Rituals Cosmetics has been certified as a B Corp, joining the ranks of Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s and over 4,000 other companies in a commitment to using their power for good.
 
The B Corp certification is an official recognition that a company is putting the planet before the profit of the business.
 
“As a brand whose philosophy is to enhance wellbeing, we realized early on that wellbeing can’t just be something we give to our customers,” explains Rituals’ sustainability manager Emma Olde Bijvank. “We have to also think about our employees, our supply chain and the communities around us. And the B Corp certification really fits in with that.”

What is B Corp?

B Corp is one of the most respected – and toughest to gain- certifications when it comes to sustainability (and so much more). Over the years, the B Corp certification has become a leading stamp of quality for brands and encourages companies to be fully transparent about the impact of their business operations.

Joining the B Corp Club

To apply for B Corp certification, a company is required to fill out a rigorous assessment of over 200 questions that vary depending on your area of business. A company needs to score at least 80 out of 200 to pass.
 
Once part of the club, the certification process needs to be repeated every three years. It can take months for B Lab (the independent verification body) to carry out this 360-evaluation as they dive deep into all aspects of your business.
 
The assessment is split into five areas: Government, Workers, Customers, Community and Environment. It rates everything from Co2 emissions to charitable donations and maternity leave. To achieve certification, a company needs to outline their commitments in these areas, show how they are able to measure their efforts and demonstrate how they’ve made improvements.

Rituals' Sustainable Efforts

In the year 2020, Rituals saved 3.4 million liters of water (that’s 3.4 full sized Olympic swimming pools), it saved the equivalent of 1411 return flights from Amsterdam to New York, and it saved energy equal to the annual use of 1,806 households.
 
Another challenge in recent years has been optimizing its formulas to reach its goal of over 90% ingredients of natural origin. Sometimes just removing one ingredient can completely alter a scent that has become so iconic.
 
“Developing the 90% natural origin foaming shower gel was quite a challenge,” explains Rituals’ product manager Famke Ouborg, “as we wanted to keep the fragrance and gel-to-foam experience the same. We managed to reach a really nice result, but we indeed had to tweak some ingredients for natural origin alternatives, as this was an important goal for us.”
 
Moving forward, Rituals has made the following commitments:
 

• By 2023, all its formulas will be made of at least 90% ingredients of natural origin
• By 2025, it aims for zero waste: all its products will be refillable, recyclable and/or made of recycled materials.
• By 2025, its product related suppliers score will be at least a silver medal on the Ecovadis assessment.
• By 2026, it aims to have reduced its energy use by 10%.