OTS - Focused on positive impact: Ricola becomes a B Corporation (part 1)
2024. March 04. 13:02
Laufen, 4 March, 2024 (APA/OTS) - Marking an important milestone on
its sustainability journey, Ricola is now a certified B
Corporation™. This step reflects Ricola's long-standing commitment
to environmental stewardship and social responsibility, in line
with its values as a family-owned enterprise.
As B Corporation, Ricola has been verified as meeting
non-profit organization B Lab's high standards in the areas of
social and environmental impact, legal commitment to responsible
company practices and public transparency.
Responsibility and sustainability are in the nature of Ricola
Ricola's path to becoming a B Corporation is built on a
foundation laid at the company's inception, namely its respect for
the Swiss Alpine ecosystems that produce the herbs for its
products. Ricola has long understood sustainability as a core
business principle. The company's practices, from herb cultivation
according to organic standards to continuously striving towards
environmentally sound product manufacturing, are designed to
preserve and nurture these ecosystems and their biodiversity,
ensuring a positive impact on the environment and society.
"We owe everything to nature. Becoming a B Corporation aligns
with our identity as a family-owned company and our dedication to
connecting people with nature," says Thomas P. Meier, CEO of
Ricola. "It's about balancing our ambitions for growth with our
responsibilities to the planet and its people."
"B Lab Switzerland Foundation is truly honored to welcome
Ricola into the B Corp movement. As an iconic Swiss company with
nearly a century of unwavering commitment to nature and
communities, Ricola embodies the principles of using business as a
force for good. Their dedication to resiliency and sustainability
leadership is exemplary," says Jonathan Normand, Founder and CEO of
B Lab Switzerland.
A framework for action: Ricola's sustainability strategy
Over the past two years, Ricola has refined a comprehensive
approach to sustainability, identifying six core areas where it can
have the most significant impact: agriculture principles, waste
management, packaging innovation, climate change mitigation, water
conservation, and ethical sourcing.
For each area, Ricola has set quantitative targets and
implements annual "footsteps" - actionable steps to achieve these
targets. These efforts are managed across the Ricola Group, with
each part of the company playing a role on the collective journey
towards sustainability.
As a B Corporation, Ricola is required to meet rigorous
standards of social and environmental performance, which includes
continuous improvements towards recertification every three years,
to ensure compliance and progress. Ricola has committed to
evaluating its sustainability performance using globally recognized
key figures. It plans to report on its progress biennially
according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines,
which are applied by a multitude of companies worldwide. The
initial report for 2022 is available for download on the company's
website - https://sustainability.ricola.com/.
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