Social intervention firm wins acclaim

Certified B Corps are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance

Pioneering social enterprise Generation Hope Inc. (HOPE), maker of the bottled water brand Hope in a Bottle, was recently honored as a Best for the World B Corp. recently.

The recognition came from B Lab, the global nonprofit organization that certifies and mobilizes Certified B Corps, and awarded to organizations in the top 5 percent of B Corps in its size group worldwide for their sustainable business practices.

Certified B Corps are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.

To date, HOPE has built 116 classrooms through the sale of HOPE products, impacting over 15,000 students. Its agriculture program has distributed over 100,000 coconut seedlings to over 10,000 farmers, providing opportunities for increased income to their communities.

HOPE became the first Filipino company to be recognized as a Certified B Corp. in 2017 and continues to put social impact in the forefront.

All profit generated from selling HOPE’s products go to building public school classrooms, mostly in geographically isolated, disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas in the Philippines.

The company also provides agriculture interventions and creates carbon sequestration projects for smallholder farmers in Mindanao.

Since 2018, HOPE has committed to make all its bottled water and boxed water products plastic neutral through an offset program using Plastic Credit Exchange.

Being a Certified Plastic Neutral Brand means that HOPE has succeeded in collecting and removing from the environment plastic waste equivalent to those found in all its products.

In 2020, HOPE was also awarded the Best in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Zenith’s Global Water Drinks Awards for its product HOPE in a Box.

“The past year has truly been like no other. While our country continues to fight against the global pandemic, our efforts to help in nation-building have not lessened. As HOPE scales, we also aspire to engage with like-minded organizations who, like us, are in the business of doing good,” Company founder and chairperson Nanette Medved-Po said.

“This year’s Best for the World companies are operating at the very top of their class, excelling in creating positive impact for their stakeholders, including their workers, communities, customers, and the environment. We’re proud of the community of stakeholder-driven businesses we’ve cultivated over the last 15 years; together we’re marching toward our collective vision of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet,” Juan Pablo Larenas, Executive Director of B Lab Global, said.