Vital Farms
The Need
Vital Farms certified as a B Corp in December 2015 and recertified in 2018. In 2020 Vital Farms completed their IPO and their 2021 recertification was their first as a publicly traded company. Leadership for the recertification had transitioned to a new resource in the company and they wanted support to complete the recertification in a timely manner and to support the complexity and sensitivity needed to maintain as a publicly traded entity.
The Work
We worked quickly with Vital Farm’s sustainability manager to update the B Impact Assessment, which involved engaging with multiple stakeholders across their business. During the update, we collected all the documentation needed to support the recertification and to simplify the verification process. The verification process was more involved because of Vital Farms’ public status, which required us to collect additional documentation and help B Lab interpret some of the more complex policies and practices.
The Impact
Vital Farms successfully recertified in late 2021. Prior to the recertification, B Lab changed their standards for an Impact Business Model that Vital Farms qualified for in the prior two assessments. We researched and wrote an extensive analysis of small farms in the United States, demonstrating to B Lab that Vital Farms’ practices do have an outsize impact and do qualify for the IBM. B Lab acknowledged the applicability of the IBM, in part due to our ability to demonstrate the importance of their work, impact on small farmers, and the influence their approach has on the industry. We left Vital Farms with a strategy to continue improving their practices and position them for their next recertification.
