Unilever Australia & New Zealand has become a B Corp-certified company.
They join a growing list of more than 460 businesses to achieve the certification in the region, and over 5400 globally. The certification is independently administered by B Lab and awarded to companies that demonstrate verifiable positive impact through policies and practices across five areas – governance, workers, communities, customers, and the environment.
The actions Unilever ANZ is taking under The Compass – its global sustainable business strategy – are said to have been integral to its successful certification. This includes:
- Fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce with gender parity across management
- Pioneering flexible work with a four-day work week trial in New Zealand
- Switching to 100% renewable electricity to power its operations
- Reimagining packaging to reduce plastic waste
- Collaborating with farmers on regenerative agricultural principles
- Driving strong employee engagement around environmental, social and governance
Unilever ANZ CEO Nicky Sparshott says the certification is a tremendous milestone for a company of Unilever’s size and scale.
“On any given day, millions of Aussie and Kiwi households use our products – we have both a responsibility and an opportunity to use our scale as a force for good,” she says.
“We’re thrilled to achieve B Corp Certification, as both a validation of the actions we’ve implemented across Australia and New Zealand, and a motivator to strive even further.”
B Lab Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand CEO Andrew Davies says when businesses of the size and scale of Unilever Australia & New Zealand certify, it shows just how much the idea of business delivering positive impact on people and planet has grown.
“Their certification sends a powerful signal that will further advance change in the consumer goods sector, and our broader global economic system,” he says.
“We need more businesses of all sizes to step up and be accountable, and B Corp Certification is one powerful way to do that. It comes with a significant burden of greater transparency and requires continuous improvement to maintain the certification over time. It’s a credit to the team at Unilever ANZ that they have been willing and able to achieve this with such a large, complex business.”