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Alcohol-free beer startup gains B-Corp status

An alcohol-free beer brand launched last year has become the first of its kind to gain B-Corp status.

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet certain standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.

Joining a global community of over 2,500 other certified B Corps, including Patagonia and Innocent, the common goal is to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Essentially, a business that gains B Corp certification can prove it is run ethically, or values “people and profit” equally, according to the B Corporation’s website.

Charlie Crawley, Freestar’s co-founder, claims the company uses 80% less water and creates 70% less waste than other beer brands, uses 100% recyclable materials in its packaging, and has a commitment to being a net zero carbon emissions business by 2030.

While Freestar is the first alcohol-free company to gain this certification, it is not the first B-Corp brewer. South London’s Small Beer announced it gained the certification last December.

The Small Beer Brewery runs on renewable energy, and all of its packaging is recycled and recyclable. It is also the only UK brewery known to champion a ‘dry floor’ policy, conceived by co-founder Felix James’s re-working of the brewing process in order to reduce the amount of water used.

Charlie Crawley, Eddy Dallas and Felix von Hurter, who all left their jobs at Tesla, Propercorn and Sipsmith respectively to set up Freestar in 2019.

Freestar doesn’t ferment its beer with yeast in the brewing process, so no alcohol is ever created to then be removed. Instead, Freestar blends malted barley, Perle hops and water together to create its alcohol-free beer alternative.

Charlie Crawley, co-founder of Freestar said: “We’re super proud of our drive as a brand to create a sustainable, and great tasting, product, which is why becoming the first alcohol-free beer brand to certify as a B Corp is such an achievement for us.

“We started Freestar to make a positive impact and build a business we could be proud of. That first comes from how we make Freestar, by using significantly less water and producing less waste than other alcohol-free beer brands out there, and through B Corp’s rigorous assessment, we’re ensuring we make that commitment across our whole business.

“We want our customers to know that by drinking Freestar you’re not having a negative impact on the planet or the community, and with the official B Corp certification, we can now guarantee that with every sip!”

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