Your environmental impact is now a major priority for any serious drinks, retail or hospitality business, but how genuine are our sustainability claims and how credible is the much coveted B Corp status? Yesmore Creative’s Dan Hooper looks to answer the questions.
It seems the only trend currently in the drinks industry bigger than celebrity tequila is applying for a B-Corp certification. With the news breaking this month that Kendall Jenner has ticked both of those boxes on everyoneʼs industry bingo card.
I saw the news at the start of the month that Jenner (or more likely the people who work for her) has gained B Corp Certification for her Tequila brand, 818.
B-Corp stands for ʻbenefit corporationʼ and it’s a way for businesses to publicly commit to being socially and environmentally responsible.
Getting B Corp status is now very much on many drinks companies’ agendas
Companies applying go through a rigorous assessment and evaluation process to determine if they meet certain standards of transparency, accountability, and performance. The application considers their impact on employees, communities, consumers, and the environment, not just their profits.
This certification is a way for consumers to know the company they are supporting is in alignment with their values and making a positive impact on the world. It’s a growing trend and many companies are striving to achieve this certification to show that they care about more than just the bottom line.
All rosey. And before I go any further I want to make it clear I have no issue with the B-Corp process or what itʼs doing to the industry. My agency, YesMore Creative, is currently applying to become a B-Corp and I fully endorse its impact.
Taking B-Corp seriously?
My question is are B-Corp certifications a sign of genuine commitment to environmental and ethical causes, or are they just the latest corporate fad – an empty promise designed to draw in customers with words but not backed up by any real change? As more businesses strive towards better sustainability practices, signing up for official B-Corp certification offers a tangible way for them to demonstrate their commitment. But what does it really mean and can it stand as proof that companies are living up to the values theyʼre promoting?
The question was sparked by Jenner specifically. As mentioned her brand has just received the accreditation which is impressive as of itself, as only 40% of companies who submit their B Impact Assessments actually go on to earn certification.
Kendall Jenner has earned plaudits for the B Corp status for her 818 tequila brand, but also serious questions about how the tequila is actually made and how B Corp fits her jet set lifestyle
But the move seems to be at odds with her lifestyle. Most notably her time spent flying on ‘Kylie Air’, her sisterʼs $72 million private jet, which has earnt Kylie the label of “climate criminal” from various Twitter users in the past. Last summer it was famously used for a 17 minute plane ride from one side of LA to another, a distance that some calculated as taking only 40 minutes in the car.
The family have come under much scrutiny over the years and the production processes and staffing conditions to produce some of their brands have been widely criticised in the US media. This isnʼt a cheap excuse to punch up to the Kardashians, I promise.
But all of this doesnʼt necessarily paint the portrait of a person who is aligned with the five pillars of governance, workers, community, environment and customers.
Jenner said in a statement on the brandʼs achievement: “I founded this company with sustainability at its core, and to be recognised for this commitment motivates us to continue building on these goals. This is just the first step; we will continue to work hard to make 818 as sustainable as possible.”
To be fair, the statement seems to ring true. I went back through the 818 brandʼs Instagram (@drink818) posting history. It started posting on February 8 2021 and by May 4 it was already sharing content that concentrates on the workers at the distillery and their roots in the history of tequila.
The 818 Instagram page clearly looks to demonstrate the brand’s ethical and environmental commitments
The brandʼs content ʻThe Bricksʼ (posted in August 2022) showcases its commitment to reducing its impact on the environment and helping local communities by using leftover agave fibres. The latest extension of which, is this month’s “Buy a Bottle, Give a Brick” campaign, which links up with the brandʼs Earth Month activities. The crux of the campaign being that for every bottle of 818 Tequila purchased (from April – June of this year), 818 Tequila will donate one brick through its Bricks Program, which aims to directly help “local infrastructure projects”.
In all honesty thereʼs no bone to be picked here.
Where the brand starts to unravel somewhat is in its NOM. The NOM is a four-digit number assigned by the governing body of tequila, Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT). This four digit number gives the reader all the pertinent information needed on the liquid. Most importantly where the tequila was made and what other tequilas are made there. Every bottle of tequila has one.
For example Teremana (Dwayne ʻThe Rockʼ Johnson’s brand hosts a NOM 1613) it shows they are the only brand made at that distillery. Kudos Dwayne.
Casamigos (I couldnʼt write a whole piece on celeb tequila and not mention Clooney) has a NOM 1416 in Los Altos. This NOM shows us that Avion, El Cartel, Campo Azul are also made there. Jenner’s 818 (NOM 1137) is produced at a distillery responsible for more than 60 other brands.
In an interview with In Style in 2022 Antonio Rodriguez, Patron’s director of production said: “Basically they just make barrels and barrels and barrels of tequila, and celebrities come in and literally pick a barrel. So there might be a little bit of a difference [between brands], like this one is aged in French oak and this one is aged in American oak…But essentially it’s exactly the same bottle, and the celebrity just buys that, and then they just use their marketing and their branding to sell it to you.” He added: “What you’re paying for is the celebrity affiliation, and not the quality of tequila.”
“They just use their marketing and their branding to sell it to you” is right, and why shouldnʼt they? As an alcohol marketer I should have no problem with that. Spin the story and get stock moving, itʼs what we do. But for me thereʼs a hierarchy of spin.
Dan Hooper questions whether the Kendall Jenner 818 environmental tequila story is as credible as its marketing would have us believe
818s images of Kendall meeting the workers in the fields, skirts the fact that the tequila is mass produced along with 60 other brands (fine by me, kind of). But the combo of touting an esteemed environmental accreditation while still flying a private jet from town to town just feels like a bridge too far.
Real commitment
From going through the B-Corp undertaking ourselves I know first hand that the process leaves no stone unturned. Truly, unless youʼre the real deal and continue to be the real deal, the accreditation is taken from you. So there is very little more (from my perspective) that the accreditation can do to ensure youʼre true to your word and follow through with action.
I would, however like to see the paperwork gymnastics Jennerʼs team had to achieve in order to have her lifestyle not impact on the application. If I were to be critical where B Lab (the people behind the badge) could possibly tighten up Iʼd look there.
More Instagram marketing from Kendall Jenner 818 tequila brand
Much like the brandʼs production methods my feeling is that the intentions behind this move to B-Corp isnʼt pure, sorry Kendall. But if the 818 brand is genuinely making a positive impact, and it seems like it is, does it matter? It might be trendy to be kind right now, well, then great. As long as B Labs can keep up the scrutiny as more and more brands apply, and buyers can be assured its mark actually means something then thereʼs no real issue here. It’s just not the best look for someone from a family that flies around Los Angeles in private jets.
I very much doubt Kendallʼs move to B Corp proud, “grass roots” tequila brand owner, has meant she will be hanging up her wings anytime soon. I mean, who needs to worry about carbon emissions when you’re busy building your empire, right? Maybe her next venture will be a line of eco-friendly private jets.
Still, happy Earth Day everyone.
- You can read more of Dan Hooper’s columns on The Buyer here.
- You can find out more about YesMore Creative and the the work it does in drinks marketing and branding here.
