Boska, the Dutch company known for its cheese wares, chocolate wares, pizza tools, kitchen knives and cutting tools, has shared its social and sustainability performance in its first report as a certified B Corp company.
In the impact report, Boska aims for transparency and accountability as it shares its dedication to improvement and the company’s “quality is sustainability” vision.
To gain B Corp status, a company must meet the standards of verified performance in the area of governance, workers, community, customers and the environment with a minimum score of 80 on a scale of 0 to 200. Increasing from 44 points in 2021 to 88.9 points in November 2022, Boska received the B Corp designation in December 2022.
“It was eight years after meeting the incredibly inspiring founders of B Corp that we realized the solution for a sustainable Boska — and a sustainable world — was something we already had in our veins: quality,” said Martijn Bos, owner of Boska. “We’ve made impressive progress by becoming a certified B Corp, but we recognize that there is still plenty left to do. We’ll continue to strive to become better and work hard to achieve our ambitious goals for the future.”
“Holding ourselves accountable and being transparent about our process with our stakeholders motivates us to improve each day, work towards positive impact, and have a bit of fun along the way,” continued Bos. “Our hope is that sharing our challenges and advances will help inspire the industry and global community to enact change.”
The report details the company’s plan which includes:
- Reducing Environmental Impact
- The “quality is sustainability” mission refers to the belief that the customer will never have to repurchase a Boska food tool which helps reduce waste and energy loss, says the company. It applies to every angle of production from the materials used to the plastic-free packaging made of natural resources and the transportation of goods. Though steel and ceramic have higher CO2 emissions, Boska states that its food tools will last a lifetime reducing overall waste on the planet, and they have transitioned from a 10-year guarantee to a lifetime guarantee.
- At the Netherlands office, Boska uses 100% green energy generated from Dutch wind, reducing emissions by more than 60% compared to 2021. In addition to reducing gas consumption, the company conducted in-office actions, installing lights with timers, LED lighting, power-saving computers and improving office insulation.
- Offsetting CO2 Emissions
- To reduce emissions, the company works with the non-profit Justdiggit to restore degraded landscapes with nature-based solutions in the Dodoma and Singida regions of central Tanzania. Justdiggit works closely with local communities to regenerate vegetation to help preserve biodiversity, improve livelihoods and positively impact climate change. The program supports villages throughout the region to help make farming practices more sustainable.
- Boska has donated €277,038 over the four-year partnership and will replant 154,340 trees in Tanzania, sequestering an estimated 31.420 tons of CO2 and saving three billion liters of water over the next 20 years.
- Investing in Workplace Culture and Employees
- Boska encourages workers to participate in health and wellness activities during the workweek and provides flexible schedules, remote work and part-time options to promote a culture of work-life balance to make overall well-being and self-care a priority.
- During the first half of 2023, Boska is training employees on B Corp best practices and in the second half of the year, the company will provide more training opportunities to develop personal skills such as stress management, resilience and personal financial planning.
- Employees also receive a paid day off per year to volunteer and the company hopes to get at least 10% employee participation in 2023.
- Charitable Contributions
- Boska is supporting causes and initiatives that promote social welfare, education and other prominent issues. It is currently committing 0.1% of revenue to charity. 59% of Boska’s cash donations were distributed to projects in the Netherlands while the remaining 41% was distributed to projects in Africa. Boska plans to increase donations to 0.2% in coming years.
- Charting a Path Forward
- As it moves toward an impact business model, Boska aims to measure the percentage of satisfied and engaged employees and retention rate while providing internal training on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) aspects and include ESG in its KPIs.
- On an environmental level, Boska aims to enact actions including product re-design, smarter production processes, less packaging, sustainable shipping and production closer to natural resources or the end-user.