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How B Corp can cut through ‘a lack of literacy around sustainability’

03 July 2026 By Michael Huband

B Corp certification is more than just a nice logo for Cork Supply – it is creating a new message for partners in the company’s supply chain.

As the sustainability & lean director at Harv 81 Group – Cork Supply’s parent company – Rui Pedro Silva admits that he has a natural advantage. With many of its green credentials inherent to the product, cork is one element of the drinks industry that would seem to be a feelgood story from the off. His job, however, is not to rest on his laurels.

Silva has been driving forward a sustainability agenda that encompasses environmental action, social initiatives and developing the business. Last year, the group – including its cork, barrel and labelling companies – took a significant step forward by achieving B Corp certification. This step has helped Cork Supply communicate its ongoing sustainability journey.

“There’s a lack of literacy around sustainability, because these matters are very complex,” he comments. “One thing that really helps is becoming a B Corp.”

While some environmental issues are clear-cut – Silva uses the analogy of the hole in the ozone layer that had a clear cause and resulted in clear solutions – other issues see slow progress as they are harder to explain. “The lack of causality,” he says, “makes people doubt.”

Thus Cork Supply is using its B Corp certification to prove a commitment to sustainability. As a widely recognised mark of sustainable thinking, it cuts through the noise and shows tangible efforts to customers. Crucially, it does so in a commercial context.

“You need to bring it to the core of the business to bring about actual change,” Silva says. “The customers that understand B Corp see sustainability across the whole business – governance, people, community and environment – as opposed to sitting in one department.”

That means that Cork Supply’s impressive sustainability programme – which includes reusing cork fragments and dust to create a circular product as well as its We Care programme of health initiatives for employees – is incorporated into the heart of the business. It is not simply window dressing, but fundamental to its continued success.

Being an ambassador

While B Corp certification registered existing sustainability initiatives, the way it has truly changed the company is in the field of communications.

“B Corp gives you credibility. People listen when you have that external seal,” explains Monika Michalski, its global brand manager. “But it also forces us to be really rigorous in how we use it. It forces you to be really clear on the boundaries between storytelling and actually sharing relevant information.”

The B Corp certification, in short, has been a tool against greenwashing, focusing people’s minds on the verifiable claims that Cork Supply can make. It has given the company the confidence to work with its partners on impact, rather than optics.

Indeed, the most impressive aspect of the certification is how it has energised Cork Supply to work with its many partners in the supply chain to advocate for sustainability certifications.

“We knew that B Corp would be a reference point for data, but what soon surprised us was that it opened conversations. People still have a lot of questions around sustainability certifications,” says Michalski. “I started seeing that we can have an educational role within the industry. If a couple of entities take this on, it can really push the industry forward.”

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