BeatBox Beverages achieves B Corp certification

American cocktail brand BeatBox Beverages has become the first wine-based ready-to-drink (RTD) in the US to have attained B Corp status.

BeatBox Beverages, which was founded in 2012 and is independently owned, revealed that the hope is that it will assist in helping the brand appeal to eco-conscious consumers and appeal to the “next generation” of RTD drinkers.

While the brand sports brightly coloured packaging and promotes ties to musicians like Avril Lavigne, co-founder and COO Aimy Steadman outlined there’s a concerted effort to champion what she calls “next-generation values,” or principles such as sustainability and charitable giving.

Steadman said: “This B Corp certification really helps us signal to those that value those things that we are doing things differently. That we’re not just a great-tasting, fun product, but we also have a lot behind the scenes going on to embody those next-generation values.”

B Corp certification considers five areas: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. BeatBox scored an 83.9 overall B impact score, with a score of 80 needed to qualify for certification, while 50.9 is said to be the median score for ordinary businesses.

According to the company, a number of decisions and initiatives helped BeatBox earn the cetification. To start, it uses a Tetra Pak carton rather than a can, which is more carbon efficient and sustainable. The drink itself is made from oranges that would have otherwise become waste were they not used. The company also uses a closed loop system for waste water management at its production facility in Mexico; is certified plastic neutral, meaning it accounts for the amount of plastic waste it produces and commits to removing that same amount from the environment; and participates in CarbonBetter and Carton Council programs, the latter of which works other carton brands and
manufacturers to promote recycling in the US.

Steadman explained: “We really didn’t want to be a company that was just marketing something without truly embodying what our communities care about.”

To that end, BeatBox also has an inititive called HeartBeat, which donates money to charities as selected by a rotating committee of team members. In its first and second quarter, the company also partnered with 25 charities, donating US$80,000.

Steadman added: “Being environmentally friendly, we hope, becomes the standard. We hope every alcohol company will be environmentally friendly, and it will be boring to talk about.”