HAK achieves B Corp certification

HAK has received the renowned B Corp certification. With this, the vegetable and legume manufacturer underlines its sustainability strategy. HAK stresses that obtaining the official B Corp certification is not an end point, but an impulse to further sharpen its sustainable course. 

Timo Hoogeboom, CEO of HAK, accepts the B Corp certification from Tessa van Soest, director of B Lab Benelux, the non-profit organisation behind the certification. With this, Neerlands Glorie Groente en Fruit, of which HAK is part, can officially call itself a B Corporation: a certified company committed to a better world, with an eye for people, the environment and society. This gives HAK access to the 'B Corp community', a network of like-minded companies that offers knowledge, insight and inspiration, including benchmarks and events.  

To obtain the B Corp certificate, an organisation must score 80 points in the extensive B Impact Assessment (BIA). This process looks at a company's impact across five pillars: governance, environment, employees, customers and community. HAK scored 84.2 points, according to the public B Corp profile.

In particular, HAK makes positive impact on consumers' health by offering plant-based food with 100% natural ingredients and with as few additives as possible. In addition, HAK scores well for its focus on sustainable and local cultivation, compensating farmers for their sustainable efforts. 

At the same time, the assessment also shows where there are still areas of improvement: such as improving water management and making the chain more climate neutral. Points that tie in seamlessly with the 'Green Kitchen', HAK's sustainability strategy. This strategy states that HAK will reduce its CO2 emissions by 46% over the next few years and will also take a closer look at emissions in the rest of the chain.

Guiding

Timo Hoogeboom, HAK's CEO, is proud that HAK can now officially call itself B Corp. He experienced the assessment as an instructive process: "The B Impact Assessment has certainly sharpened our ambitions and our intended impact. Besides the scores on our impact in the comprehensive assessment, an important condition was that we had to amend our statutes. This states that we take into account social, economic, legal or other impacts on stakeholders and the environment in our business operations. We already fulfilled this condition last year."

Hoogeboom emphasises that the sustainable journey is never finished and that the bar is constantly being raised. All B Corps have to achieve another higher score in the B Impact Assessment every three years to maintain the certificate.

Hak.nl