Eightbillion’s journey to becoming a Certified B Corporation

Picture this: the year is 2021, and amidst the chaos of a pandemic, John Stevens, visionary cofounder of Eightbillion, finds himself immersed in a transformative journey. It all began when he delved into B Corp Assessment training alongside Kristy O’Leary and Briana Brown from Decade Impact. Yet, the seeds of aspiration were sown years earlier (many years earlier!), when John first encountered some of the original trailblazers of the B Corp movement at the Natural Foods Expo in Anaheim, CA, back in 2008.  

But this story isn’t just about John, it’s about the tireless dedication of our B Champions, Holly Xing and Pauly Yau. These two brilliant individuals took on the challenge of dissecting the inner workings of Eightbillion, navigating through the rigorous B Impact Assessment with determination and understanding. 

Both Holly and Pauly have dedicated the last 12 months and hundreds of hours to the B Impact Assessment and have been working tirelessly towards the goal of creating a company that meets and exceeds the standards of B Corp.

During this process, the Eightbillion team built a framework to select charitable partners, established improved sustainable packaging, and determined how to measure and offset carbon emissions. We created wellness benefits for the team, outlined our ethical marketing policy, developed our customer stewardship plan, conducted JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity Inclusivity) training and volunteered in our community. Phew, it’s been a very busy 12 months! 

Completing the B Impact Assessment results in an overall score for your business and the B Impact Assessment Score has given us a great focus; we can see how we scored in all areas and what we can work towards improving. And oh, what a score we achieved! While the average score for regular businesses (non-B Corps) is around 50.9, Eightbillion scored a remarkable 94.2! The areas of assessment are Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. In fact, by our calculations, we are in the top-scoring 13 beverage B Corps operating in Canada! Wow!

But becoming a Certified B Corp is more than a badge of honour, it’s a journey of continuous improvement, a commitment to raising the bar in every aspect of our business, and we see opportunities for growth and improvement and we’re excited for what’s to come next! Afterall, B Corp Certification isn't a destination, it's a journey! In fact, that's the theme of this year's B Corp Month; how are B Corps moving business forward? This year’s campaign champions the B Corp community as a perpetual work in progress and asks B Corps to share how they plan to keep growing their impact in the future. Here at Eighbillion, we're moving traditional Chinese healing wisdom forward and driving positive change for people (that’s you!) and planet! 

Our journey to becoming a B Corp is twofold: one, it is helping us set up our company the right way, and two, getting certified will keep us accountable. 

Throughout this journey, we've laid the groundwork for meaningful partnerships, championed sustainable practices, and nurtured a culture of wellness and inclusivity. But our work is far from over. As we step into this new chapter, we're honored to join a network of like-minded businesses, united by a shared vision of a better world. We're committed to supporting fellow B Corps, sourcing from ethical suppliers, and attracting individuals who share our values.

Yes, the road to B Corp Certification has been a lot of work, requiring patience, perseverance and dedication (and so it should!) but every step of the way, we’ve been fuelled by purpose (and JostArriba!) to create a business that not only thrives but also serves as a catalyst for positive change and to address the issues impacting us all.

As a Certified B Corp, Eightbillion is not just a business but it is a movement. A movement towards a more interconnected, evolved, and sustainable world and a movement toward healthier humans, all Eighbillion of them on our beautiful planet!  

We invite you to join us on this extraordinary journey. Together, let's shape a future where business isn't just about profits - it's about people, planet, and purpose.