Pals now B Corp certified

In an industry first, drinks brand Pals has recently announced that they are New Zealand’s first B Corp certified RTD.*

After years of hard work and staying true to their sustainability goals, the highly-sought after B Corp certification follows the team’s rigorous efforts to make a positive impact on its workers, community, customers, the environment and business governance.

Pals had to focus on improvements in all of the required fields, propelling the business to meet the high standards of B Corp for their social and environmental contributions. And for Pals, landing the certification after operating for only three and a half years is something in itself to be proud of.

“Landing our B Corp certification is a huge milestone for Pals, especially being recognised for our sustainability efforts so early on in our business journey, says Pals director and co-founder, Mat Croad. “Becoming certified was a huge undertaking for our small team and something we’re all so proud of.”

Nick Marshall, also a director and co-founder adds “When we set out to achieve B Corp certification, it helped provide a rigorous framework and benchmark for sustainable business practises that we will continue to improve against for the years to come. Although it’s fantastic to be the first in our category to achieve this certification, we hope in time that B Corp certification will become a norm for all businesses.”

From team volunteering, implementing a supplier code of conduct, customer service and employee satisfaction, the B Corp recognition is testament to Pals’ dedication in all aspects of their business. Some notable highlights from their certification journey include their hugely-popular Unsung Pals initiative, which rewards local heroes doing great things in their community, achieving official carbon zero certification (endorsed by Toitū) and implementing enhanced parental policies – which offers soon-to-be Pals parents up to 80 percent pay for 16 weeks or 13 weeks at full pay.

Marshall continues, “These are just a few of the elements that have allowed us to achieve this industry first, and help us go the extra mile for our pals, the planet and the community.”

Pals are all-natural, low in sugar, gluten free, vegan friendly and free from artificial colours, sweeteners, preservatives.

What is B Corp?

B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.

In order to achieve certification, a company must demonstrate high social and environmental performance, make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, and exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available.

*Alcoholic RTD only brand in New Zealand.