Christchurch-based beauty and wellness company Jeuneora has joined a globally recognised line-up of businesses doing their part to raise social and environmental benchmarks, with their newly awarded B Corp Certification. Words Hannah Brown
Jeuneora’s commitment to meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance has been acknowledged with their B Corp Certification, which places the New Zealand company on a celebrated group of businesses that balance profit and purpose.
To certify, a business must be awarded a B Impact Score of at least 80 points, measured across five ‘impact areas’ – workers, customers, governance, environment, and community.
Jeuneora scored an impressive 97 points, well above the threshold.
The young company was founded in 2016 by Monique Kaminski who started it when she saw a need for products that could be a healthy support to a busy lifestyle and the foundation for beauty too.
Jeuneora offers a range of 100% natural marine collagen and plant-based beauty and wellness supplements, and cruelty-free skincare.
Monique says that being a sustainable business was important to her from the start, and that the B Corp certification is a demonstration of its evolution.
“When I started Jeuneora in 2016, I asked myself what my non-negotiables were: to formulate and manufacture locally and to use sustainably-sourced marine collagen (a by-product of the fishing industry) as my hero ingredient,” she says.
After that it was a case of constant education and keeping her eye on new innovations and initiatives for the business.
Some of those innovations included the use of 100% Sugarcane Plastic supplement containers, becoming a Living Wage certified employer, and developing a guaranteed recycling programme with TerraCycle.
“B Corp Certification is a big deal. It means we join a global community that includes the likes of Allbirds and Patagonia that have been certified by B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance,” says Monique.
“Currently, there are only around 5,300 certified B Corps globally, and we’re extremely proud to be one of them,” she adds.
Jeuneora’s director Colleen Itterman says that the achievement gives consumers trust and confidence to purchase more sustainably-minded products.
“Kiwis increasingly expect businesses to be transparent, and B Corp certification is a marker that people can trust; that holds companies accountable for their social and environmental output” she says.
She says Jeuneora are believers in sustainability being a journey, rather than a destination – and are committed to continually doing better for their communities and customers.
Once businesses are certified, they are required to undergo a verification process every three years, with a focus on ongoing improvement.
“As a company that was created with sustainability as a founding principle, this certification not only recognises the work that we have done so far, but also helps keep us honest and provides a road map for how we can continually increase our efforts to do better as we grow,” says Monique.
Monique says that they have already developed big goals of what they are going to achieve and change over the next three years before our next certification round, and cannot wait to share more of their sustainability journey.