B Corp Certification: What It Is, How It Works, and What It Brings to Companies

In recent years, the B Corp label has been popping up more and more often in company profiles, on products, and in job adverts. Behind this label lies one of the most demanding standards for assessing a company's impact on society and the environment. This article explains what the certification involves, how the process works, and what it concretely delivers for the companies that pursue it.

B Corp certification is awarded by the non-profit organisation B Lab to companies that meet strict standards on social and environmental impact, transparency, and governance.

The "B" stands for Benefit. Certified companies make a legal commitment that their decision-making takes into account not only the interests of owners, but also employees, customers, communities, and the environment. In countries where the Benefit Corporation legal form exists, certified companies must reflect this commitment directly in their legal structure, meaning they adjust the way they are legally constituted as a business. It is not just a declaration of values, but a structural change.

The B Corp movement is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the data from this period shows that the approach also works economically. Between 2019 and 2022, B Corp companies saw revenue growth of 76%, compared with just 60% for non-certified companies. Certified companies also proved more resilient during crises: over 95% remained operational throughout the Covid pandemic, compared with 88% for comparable non-certified companies.

Globally, more than 10,000 companies in over 100 countries now hold the certification. You've likely come across some of them already. Brands such as Patagonia, Nespresso, Weleda, The Body Shop, Ben & Jerry's, and Alpro are all widely available on shop shelves, and all carry B Corp certification. Certified B Corps also include companies headquartered in the Czech Republic, such as Flagship Impact, Frank Bold, Matchstick, and, most recently, the hospitality group Zátiší Group. Companies operating in the Czech Republic as part of larger regional or international groups are certified too, such as Danone CEE or the Slovak company Martinus, which also runs bookshops in the Czech Republic. Alongside these global names, thousands of small and medium-sized companies are also part of the movement, for whom B Corp forms part of a long-term strategy.

The market offers a range of certifications and ratings focused on sustainability and social impact. They differ, however, in scope, methodology, and intended audience.

• ESG ratings (such as MSCI ESG or Sustainalytics) assess companies primarily from an investor's perspective, focusing on the management of risks linked to environmental, social, and governance factors. They are the standard for large, typically publicly listed companies.
• ISO 14001 is an international standard for environmental management systems. It certifies whether a company has processes in place to manage its environmental impact, but it does not assess how large that impact actually is, nor does it consider the social or governance dimension. A new standard, ISO 37011, is also in development, specifically aimed at so-called purpose-driven organisations.
• EcoVadis is a platform that assesses company sustainability within the context of the supply chain. It is used mainly by large corporations that want visibility over their suppliers. For smaller companies within a supply chain, EcoVadis can become a condition of doing business.
• B Corp differs from the standards above in that it assesses the company as a whole, with results verified by an independent third party. Certification is open to companies regardless of size or legal form. Companies from sectors deemed incompatible with B Corp principles have recently been excluded. These are companies that generate 1% or more of their revenue from fossil fuel production, tobacco, gambling, pornography, or weapons, with similar thresholds also applying to companies in related sectors, such as marketing or consulting firms serving clients in these industries. For most companies, though, certification remains the most natural way to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability credibly and comprehensively.
• The B Impact Assessment is B Lab's own assessment tool, available free of charge after registration, with no certification required. For companies just starting on their sustainability journey and unsure where to begin, it is one of the best-designed management tools on the market: it provides a clear structure and an accessible guide to where a company currently stands in each area, and where it can go next.

Another major benefit is the community of like-minded companies. It is common practice among B Corps to share best practice on their sustainability progress, and sector-specific coalitions are gradually emerging within the movement. Certified beauty companies, for instance, have formed the B Corp Beauty Coalition, and this year saw the launch of the B Corp Coffee Coalition, founded by seven certified companies from the coffee sector.

Collective action, meaning active collaboration between companies and other players in their industry to advance responsible business practice more broadly, is now one of the requirements of the new B Corp standards. For certified companies, this is no longer just a voluntary bonus, but a mandatory part of their systemic impact on the sector in which they operate.

In April 2025, B Lab released the sixth edition of its certification standard, bringing several changes for companies pursuing certification:

• Companies must now meet minimum requirements across all assessed areas. A weaker result in one area can no longer be offset by an above-average score elsewhere.
• Certified companies must demonstrate ongoing improvement, with their results subject to third-party verification.
• The demands of certification increase with company size. Larger companies must meet additional requirements, such as disclosing gender pay gap data or tying environmental targets to executive remuneration.
• The standard is being tightened progressively, and the value of the certification is rising along with it.

The central tool in the process is the B Impact Assessment (BIA), a structured questionnaire on the B Impact platform that evaluates a company across seven areas (Impact Topics):

• Purpose and Stakeholder Governance
• Climate Action
• Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
• Fair Work
• Human Rights
• Environmental Stewardship and Circularity
• Government Affairs and Collective Action

Since 2025, the standard has worked differently than before: rather than an overall points score, a company must meet minimum requirements in each of these seven areas individually, so a weaker result in one area can no longer be balanced out by strong performance in another. Requirements also vary depending on a company's size, sector, and risk profile, so each company only needs to meet the conditions that apply to it.

Completing the assessment itself represents dozens of hours of work and requires detailed documentation across the whole company. Once the self-assessment has been submitted, an independent audit follows, carried out by an external certified auditor: small and medium-sized companies are audited by To-Cert, while medium-to-very-large enterprises are audited by SCS Global Services. The auditor issues a report flagging any discrepancies, which the company must resolve within a set deadline before certification is granted.

The whole process, from submitting the self-assessment to being awarded certification, generally takes several months, depending on the size and complexity of the company. Certification is not a one-off event either: companies must meet ongoing requirements and go through recertification, ensuring their impact keeps improving over time.

B Corp is not primarily a marketing tool. Its value plays out on several levels, and most of them have a direct impact on the business.

• Access to talent. Research consistently shows that employees are placing growing weight on a company's values and impact when choosing an employer. B Corp certification is a verifiable signal that sets a company apart from those that merely claim to be sustainable.
• Credibility with partners and clients. At a time when the word "sustainability" has lost some of its meaning, B Corp is backed by concrete figures and independent third-party verification. For B2B companies, that is a relevant argument when building long-term business relationships.
• Internal value of the process. The B Impact Assessment forces a company to systematically map every aspect of how it operates, from HR policy through the supply chain to its environmental footprint. The result is a set of clearly identified blind spots, established processes, and a stronger internal culture. This benefit holds regardless of the final score.
• Legal grounding of values. Amending a company's articles of association is not just a formality. It changes the way a company approaches decision-making, including in situations where it is under pressure to deliver short-term results. In countries where local legislation does not allow for the Benefit Corporation legal form, companies commit to making this change as soon as the law permits it.

Flagship went through B Corp certification as one of the first companies in the Czech Republic under the original standard. We are now building on that experience: we have a B Lab-trained B Corp™ consultant on the team, an experienced professional ready to guide companies through the B Corp certification process under the new B Lab V2 standards. This means we can now support companies through the new, considerably more demanding standards too. We help them find their bearings in the process and offer support tailored to each company's size, sector, and current level of readiness.

Martina Remtová is Client Director at Flagship Impact. She oversees all client projects in sustainability and ESG reporting and leads Flagship's B Corp certification work. As a B Corp™ consultant trained by B Lab, she guides clients from their initial considerations about certification right through to achieving it.