“Becoming a B Corp was a very humbling experience”
The French outdoor brand Picture officially became a B Corp in November 2019. Florian Palluel shares about the long journey.
Why did you choose to become a B Corp?
When Picture was born, 10 years ago, it was imagined and conceived as an eco-friendly brand. Since then, we have relentlessly questioned what we were doing, socially and environmentally, so as to keep improving. Becoming a B Corp was a way for us to have this recognized and to realize whether what we had done had any value when confronted with an exacting certification (200 questions tackling a wide variety of topics, ranging from governance and human resources management, to the material used in our production). Finally, we considered that the certification would provide us with a road map: What could be done in the future to be even better, and how?
How did you get started?
In April 2019, I started working on the B Impact assessment, an open source questionnaire provided by B Labs. The idea was to see whether our score could go beyond 80, the minimum required to be certified. This process took several months. According to my evaluation, Picture could reach 107 points, hence we got in touch with B Lab. From September to November, B Lab audited the brand and our score quickly fell to 57! It was a shock! We didn’t know why we lost so many points. Afterwards, we had to provide all the supporting documents to prove that what we were saying was accurate. Gradually, our score went back up and made it to 85.4. It was a very humbling experience.
Were there any more surprises or realizations along the way?
We were particularly proud to see that our commitment to using recycled fabrics and organic cotton on a wide range of our products, and not only in one item of a collection, paid off. A brand has to be fully committed to change. However, some of the things we had implemented with our supply chain couldn’t be taken into account as it was too difficult to get the right documents to prove it.
What advantages does the B Corp certification provide?
Firstly, it provides a roadmap on how to improve. I also think this certification is the most comprehensive one. It certifies all the aspects of a company, not only one particular aspect of its activity. As such, it provides us with extra credibility, especially on the American market. In addition, there is some kind of solidarity between B Corp members. We cooperate and exchange best practices.
What’s next for your company?
We have now amended our company’s statuses to incorporate the required paragraphs showing that we are willing to have a positive environmental and social impact on the world. We even went further by protecting this “mission” even in case of ownership changes. Now we are determined to improve our score for our next certification in 3 years. We’ll move forward collectively, with all our stakeholders and employees.