Drinks industry B Corp support must understand the realities of brewing, drinks production, ingredient sourcing, packaging, distribution, hospitality and customer-facing brand activity.
Therefore, as a B Corp Consultant with wide-ranging industry experience across the beer scene, the wider beverage industry and hospitality, I can provide specialist help for breweries, beverage brands, supply chains, pubs, bars, cafés, events, and other On-Trade and Off-Trade operators seeking to become a Certified B Corp™.
Since 2018, I have been professionally involved with marketing and content, sustainability, documentation and industry commentary for beer and other beverages. As a result, I can interpret B Corp requirements in the context of how drinks businesses actually produce, source, market, distribute and sell their products.
Alongside B Corp Certification, I can support these businesses in measuring and improving their ESG (environmental, social and governance) and sustainability performance.
Specialist B Corp support for beer and beverage businesses
A brewery’s impact extends far beyond the brewhouse. For example, ingredients, water, energy, cleaning, packaging, logistics, employees, taprooms, festivals, marketing and commercial partnerships can all affect your B Corp journey.
However, generic guidance may not account for your sector-specific considerations. My beer and beverage experience helps connect your B Corp Certification journey with day-to-day practical realities.
Moreover, my knowledge helps me recognise what is likely to be most relevant. Consequently, you can focus your limited time and resources on the evidence, actions and improvements that matter most.
Drinks industry B Corp support across the beer supply chain
My specialist perspective is relevant to:
- Breweries, beer brands and contract brewers
- Beverage producers and drinks manufacturers
- Alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks businesses
- Ingredient, equipment and packaging suppliers
- Importers, wholesalers and distributors
- Pubs, bars, cafés and taprooms
- Hospitality, venue and for-profit events operators
- On-Trade and Off-Trade drinks businesses
Because each part of the supply chain can create different B Corp considerations, I’ll help you identify which requirements are relevant to your operations, workforce and commercial relationships. In particular, this may include environmental data, responsible sourcing, packaging, climate action, worker practices, supplier engagement, stakeholder governance, ESG and sustainability performance indicators, improvement priorities and supporting documentation.
In addition, I’ll help you determine which information should come from your own operations and which evidence needs to be requested from suppliers or production partners.
B Corp consultancy for On-Trade and Off-Trade businesses
The drinks industry connects producers and supply-chain businesses with a wide range of On-Trade and Off-Trade operators. Although these businesses operate in the same wider sector, their B Corp priorities may differ substantially.
On-Trade support can extend to pubs, bars, cafés, restaurants, taprooms, hotels, hospitality, venues and for-profit event businesses. For example, relevant considerations may include employment practices, responsible customer-service and marketing, energy and water use, food and drink waste, procurement, accessibility and community impact.
Off-Trade support can extend to drinks retailers, wholesalers, importers, distributors, bottle shops, online retailers and other businesses selling beverages for consumption elsewhere. Meanwhile, priorities may include supplier standards, packaging, logistics, product information, responsible marketing, customer data and supply-chain traceability.
Furthermore, businesses operating across both channels may need to consider how production, distribution, retail, hospitality and brand activity fit within one certification scope. Accordingly, my support can be structured around the complete business rather than treating each sales channel in isolation.
B Corp certification support at every stage
B Corp support can begin with an initial readiness review and continue through a structured certification or recertification programme. Therefore, the scope of support can reflect your current position, internal capacity and certification objectives.
Depending on your needs, I can help you:
- Define the appropriate certification scope
- Understand applicable B Corp requirements
- Complete or coordinate an initial self-assessment
- Identify evidence and performance gaps
- Establish ESG and sustainability baselines and performance indicators
- Prioritise realistic improvement actions
- Develop or strengthen policies and procedures
- Organise supporting documents and operational data
- Coordinate input from internal teams and external suppliers
- Prepare for verification
- Establish systems for continuing improvement
The objective is not simply to complete an assessment. Instead, it is to create a credible and manageable programme that reflects your business, brand, resources and ambitions. Consequently, you and your team will be better equipped to maintain evidence, monitor ESG and sustainability performance, track B Corp progress and prepare for future recertification.
Specialist support for hospitality, venues and events
Drinks businesses often operate across both production and hospitality. For instance, a brewery may also run a taproom, online shop, festivals or other events.
Similarly, a beverage brand may depend on bars, cafés, restaurants, retailers and hospitality partners to reach its customers. Therefore, its B Corp considerations may extend beyond the direct impacts of producing and packaging drinks.
My experience across hospitality and events helps me understand customer-facing activities alongside production and supply-chain impacts. In addition, I can help establish practical ways to measure and improve ESG and sustainability performance across permanent sites, temporary operations and commercial partnerships.
Haarlem-based B Corp support with international reach
Based in Haarlem, I primarily aim to support breweries, beer brands, beverage producers and hospitality businesses across the Netherlands, including Amsterdam and the wider Randstad.
However, my professional experience also spans the Dutch, UK, wider EU and Japanese drinks industries. As a result, I understand how markets, supply-chain structures, working practices and commercial contexts can differ across countries.
While my main focus is the Netherlands, my remote support can extend internationally where required.
This flexible approach makes B Corp Certification support suitable not only for businesses operating nationally, but also for those with international supply chains, outsourced production, multiple locations or teams working across different countries.
Specific B Corp considerations for drinks businesses
Depending on your business size, activities and supply chain, drinks industry B Corp support may need to address several sector-specific areas when measuring and improving ESG and sustainability performance.
- Alcohol and consumer health: responsible marketing, intended audiences, sponsorship and alcohol-related human-rights risks.
- Water, energy and waste: production water, wastewater, process heat, refrigeration, cleaning chemicals and spent ingredients.
- Packaging and circularity: bottles, cans, kegs, labels, cartons, pallets, recycled content, reuse and recovery systems.
- Plastic or steel: the ongoing debate about whether plastic or steel is the more environmentally friendly option and how this may depend on production, transport, reuse, recycling and end-of-life systems.
- Ingredients and traceability: sourcing risks and supplier impacts relating to barley, hops, sugar, fruit, coffee, tea and packaging materials.
- Climate impacts: emissions from production, purchased carbon dioxide, ingredients, packaging, outsourced manufacturing and freight.
- Workers and governance: fair work, inclusive recruitment, stakeholder grievances, trade associations and oversight of social and environmental impacts.
- And much more that I can help you with.
Get specialist support to become a Certified B Corp
Whether you run a brewery, drinks brand, supply-chain business, pub, bar, café, hospitality company, events business or another for-profit organisation, get in touch for drinks industry B Corp support: specialist help, practical support and sector-informed guidance on becoming a Certified B Corp and measuring and improving your ESG and sustainability performance. Together, we can clarify the requirements, identify your priorities and develop a credible, manageable route towards certification and continuing improvement.
B Corp Certification FAQs for Breweries and Beverage-industry Businesses
As a drinks-industry producer, supplier or venue, what might you need to know before choosing specialist B Corp Certification support?
Yes. An experienced drinks-industry consultant will understand what distinguishes independent businesses from homogenised global brands. They will recognise the challenges of competing in a market dominated by large, big-brand corporations while welcoming the individuality, creativity and diversity of styles and flavours that independent producers offer.
A B Corp Consultant with beer-industry experience already understands brewing processes, beer styles, packaging, distribution, taprooms and events. They also recognise beer’s social and cultural value when it is produced, promoted and enjoyed responsibly.
This specialist knowledge helps connect B Corp requirements with the operational and commercial realities facing breweries and beer brands.
Consider choosing a B Corp Consultant who combines detailed knowledge of B Corp Certification with practical, hands-on experience in the beer, beverage, hospitality or events industries. Relevant expertise may include production, supply and value chains, packaging, logistics, brand development, marketing and front-of-house or behind-the-bar experience serving customers.
Yes. B Corp support can help an independent brewery, drinks producer or hospitality business strengthen its purpose, improve its practices and communicate what makes it distinctive. The aim is not to imitate large corporate brands, but to build a credible and resilient business around responsible ownership, quality, transparency and positive impact.
Potentially. The certification process can help examine ownership, governance, supplier relationships, employment practices, environmental performance and public claims. This can provide a structured way to distinguish meaningful action from vague sustainability messaging or greenwashing.
Yes. The first step is to clarify the legal structure, certification scope and which operations to include. Specialist support can help you consider connected activities across the value chain, such as brewing, offices, warehouses, taprooms, online sales, marketing and events.
For beer or beverage brands without their own breweries or facilities, particular attention may be needed around outsourced production, supplier relationships, ingredient sourcing, packaging, logistics and quality control, as well as obtaining suitable evidence from contract brewing and manufacturing partners.
Yes. Support may be suitable for pubs, bars, cafés, taprooms, venues, festivals and other for-profit events businesses, particularly where their activities overlap with production, distribution, sales, brand ownership, corporate partnerships or customer experiences.
Where major brands are involved, specialist support can also help clarify ownership, control, commercial relationships and how these factors may affect the business’s independence and certification scope.
Yes. A B Corp Consultant can support you remotely. Readiness assessments, evidence reviews, project coordination and the development of processes and procedures can usually be delivered online. Optional site visits may also be arranged where a direct assessment of production, hospitality or event operations would add value.
It can be. Support should be proportionate to the size, resources and stage of the business. Smaller businesses may benefit from a focused readiness review, practical priorities and phased improvements rather than a large consultancy project.
I aim to provide fair, flexible and affordable support suited to the budgets of prospective B Corps seeking to improve their environmental and social impact.
Ask about their beer and beverage industry experience, knowledge of B Corp Certification, project management expertise, approach to facilitating change, delivery methods, expected outputs, responsibilities and fees. The discussion should also establish your current position, internal capacity, certification ambitions and the practical support your team requires.