What a Cheese Company Can Teach Us About Sharing Stories of Sustainability

culture, behind the scenes

What a Cheese Company Can Teach Us About Sharing Stories of Sustainability

B Corp Community Finds Value in Corporate Collaboration

written byhhadmindate published Feb 18, 2018 content type culture

There is something wonderful and powerful about being part of a community of shared values. In my corporate life, these communities include the Social Venture Network, the Sustainable Brands community, the HATCH Network and the Community of Certified B Corps. My film company Hemmings House has only been in the B Corp community for three years, but we have made many friends, partners and clients as a result.

The Sustainable Brands community gathered last year in Detroit. It was thrilling to see thousands of delegates representing companies that are advancing on their sustainability journey.

The Detroit gathering attracted close to 30 B Corp community members that had a strong presence in the Activation Hub through keynotes, panels, workshops and events. One of the best events was hosted by B Lab at a local microbrewery called Motor City Brewing Works.

It was there that I had a wonderful discussion with Ann Hoogenboom from Cabot Creamery Cooperative. Ann and I were talking about the storytelling challenges surrounding the sustainability topic. We discussed how the stories of sustainability, triple bottom line and B Corp can be hard to communicate, even to the employees and stakeholders of companies committed to using their business as a force for good.

My company is a perfect example of this. As CEO, I am in this dialogue daily. My staff are busy producing films. They believe in the values that we all share in the B Corp community and they trust that I am leading the company in the right direction, but I often forget that they are not part of the daily sustainability conversation the way I am.

My eyes were open to this just the other day when one of my employees expressed his confusion about some of the sustainability terminology I use when discussing our corporate vision. I quickly realized that if I am not sharing the stories of sustainability in a clear way to my employees, I probably am not doing a great job sharing them with my community, clients and stakeholders. This is something that I am going to work on in 2018.

Cabot Creamery Cooperative also has committed to sharing its sustainability story more effectively with its cooperative members, employees, customers and stakeholders. After Ann and I talked about the storytelling challenge, she invited Hemmings House to help update Cabot’s sustainability video in a way that would be simple and clear. We were able to animate a video that describes how Cabot shows up on the planet in a fun, entertaining and effective way.

This collaboration in telling sustainability stories is like many others that happen every day within the B Corp community. Sustainability isn’t solely connected to the environment. It also is connected to health, finances, soul and passion. Sustainability for B Corps includes collaborating and sharing each other’s stories.

The Cabot Creamery Cooperative is a prime example of a sustainable B Corp certified company in our community.