Our Journey to B Corp Certification
By Linzi Gay
When I joined Clif Family Winery & Farm in 2007, I was motivated and passionate about building a wine and specialty food company that was focused on sustainable business practices to support our people, our community and our planet. Gary and Kit had brought the same 5 Aspirations Business Model to Clif Family that they had created at Clif Bar & Company. Using our 5 Aspirations as our guide, every major decision we make includes a discussion about how we can be the best stewards of our planet.
Over the years, our 5 Aspirations have guided us to achieve the following:
- All actively managed agricultural lands including 90 acres of vineyards and 10 acres of vegetables, fruit orchards, and olive groves, are CCOF-certified organic which requires that lands be managed without the use of synthetic fertilizers or toxic, persistent pesticides.
- All vineyards are also certified as Napa Green Vineyards, the first sustainable winegrowing certification to focus specifically on climate action, regenerative farming, and social equity.
- All facilities and vineyards run on 100% renewable electricity sourced through MCE Deep Green renewables program or generated by on-site solar panels.
- All shipping and packaging supplies are reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
- Every employee receives generous healthcare benefits, a 401k, wellness programs, and 16 hours of paid company time to volunteer in their local community.
- The winery’s Sip & Support monthly fundraising program benefits twelve local non-profit partners each year.
I am beyond excited to share the good news that this work is being acknowledged and recognized through B Corp Certification! After spending a year working with B Lab to complete their rigorous assessment and verification, we have received certification with an impressive 93.7 points. With this certification, we are joining a growing community of 6,500 companies from 89 countries and over 160 industries that are committed to the highest level of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
Clif Family is the 3rd winery in Napa Valley and the 6th winery in California to be certified. It’s an exciting achievement for us and we are looking forward to sharing our journey with others in the wine industry to support and encourage more wineries to become certified.
For those not familiar with B Corp certification, it is a designation that a business is meeting the highest standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors that include farming practices, supply chain practices, employee benefits, charitable giving, and much more. To achieve certification, a business must score 80 points or higher on the B Impact Assessment, make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders of the business and to exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile.
We are excited to join the community of B Corp businesses and to work with these businesses to collectively ensure that we are passing along a better world to our children and future generations. Our initial certification is just the start of our journey as we look to utilize the resources and support that B Corp and the community of B Corp businesses will provide as we set higher goals for ourselves.
Click here to view our Clif Family B Corp profile.