When BReD Bakery first began selling sourdough cinnamon rolls, seeded rye loaves and brioche buns with poached fruit in Whistler’s Creekside neighbourhood, Natasha and Ed Tatton wanted their fledgling business to align with their morals. But they decided not to promote that they were a vegan bakery, says Natasha Tatton, because they “didn’t want to put anybody off.”
This created a new problem for them, though, as customers increasingly asked for vegan products. The Tattons came to understand that without any certification or promotion of their decision, they weren’t really trusted by the vegan community.
“We’re about so much more than not eating animals,” says Tatton. This pushed them to dig deeper than the narrow qualifications for vegan recognition. They looked at the business practices they’d already established — using recyclable or compostable materials; donating money to animal and environmental causes; and setting policies, such as offering medical and wellness benefits and paying at least 10 percent above minimum wage, to retain good staff — and considered how to convey what their business stood for.
They wanted not only to be profitable, explains Tatton, but also “to become a small business making a big impact.” In 2022, three years after opening, BReD became a certified B Corporation, a designation that measures businesses’ environmental and social impacts. “‘B’ means benefit,” says Tatton, and the certification process benefited them as well, by providing both a blueprint for managing their business and a support network to help them improve it. “It means that the world is a better place for your business being there than without it.”
Measuring the Benefit
B Lab Global launched the B Corp concept in 2006 and has now certified more than 6,000 B Corporations in more than 80 countries. To become a B Corp, BReD had to score at least 80 points on the organization’s 200-point scale, which evaluates factors such as how effectively they support their workers, their community and their environment. Their initial score was 87.1. By comparison, B Lab reports that the average score for ordinary businesses who complete the assessment is 50.9.
BReD uses organic Canadian grains and supports Pemberton farmers as much as possible, which factors into their environmental and community benefit scores. Often, when they can’t source products locally, Tatton says, they don’t look further afield. “If we can’t get carrots from Pemberton, we might change the menu to make something else.”
To meet their goals as a benefit corporation, BReD commits one percent of revenue to causes supporting animals or the environment. This year, for every two beverages BReD sells, the Tattons fund the planting of a tree through Trees for the Future, a non-profit organization that helps restore agricultural land damaged by deforestation.
As a B Corporation, BReD is required to post impact reports and metrics demonstrating their actions and results. In the store and on the website, the Tattons report the number of trees they’ve planted, how they source ingredients from local suppliers wherever possible and other business practices, such as working toward zero food waste or donating to Whistler Animals Galore and other community organizations.
Avoiding Greenblushing
“A lot of ethical business owners are scared to make a profit. Profit is a dirty word. It implies that you’re exploiting people and being greedy,” says Tatton. “Greenwashing” refers to companies that act like they’re doing good while continuing harmful practices. “Greenblushing” describes businesses that truly do good, but are embarrassed to tell people about it.
“Being a B Corp changes that,” Tatton asserts, “because the more money we make, the more we give back. The impact you’re making is out there, loud and proud. Consumers will get behind you. It’s good for profitability. But it also inspires other businesses to make better decisions.”
The Tattons’ vegan lifestyle influences their business decisions and pushed them toward B Corp certification. Now it continues to move them forward, to do better and create a better world. “You can’t be perfect in an imperfect world,” says Tatton. “It’s about striving to be better than you were yesterday.”