Republic of Cacao Presents, Cacao Talks: Why Become a B Corp?
República del Cacao promotes knowledge sharing among its entire community of farmers, producers, allies, collaborators, chefs, and chocolate lovers. With the goal of motivating more change-makers to emerge, on March 29th, the company held its event “Cacao Talks: Why Be a B Corp?” along with the participation of two other important organizations in the sector, TippyTea and Cusi, closing out B Corp Month.
República del Cacao's Cacao Talks were created in 2019 as a space for dialogue, sharing, and community inspiration. After a 3-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the company reopened this online space during the month of B Corp companies, celebrated globally throughout March.
In Ecuador, there are only 27 companies that have B Corp certification, with República del Cacao being one of them. The goal of all these organizations is to meet the highest standards in economic, social, and environmental development, thereby committing to being better companies for the world. Throughout the entire month, República del Cacao and its collaborators shared their best practices and positive impact projects with their community, which have earned them this certification. They concluded the month with this grand event, the essence of which was to exchange valuable experiences and ideas so that more companies can join the B Corp movement.
República del Cacao moderated this discussion, held at their Chocolate Boutique in La Floresta, with their Sustainable Business Coordinator, Carolina Falconí, and the speakers were Philippe Bongrain, B2B CEO of República del Cacao, José Luis Quintero, Co-founder of Cusi, and Vanina Enciso, President and Commercial Manager of Tippytea. All of these companies were founded in Ecuador, and all three have different stories about their journey to becoming B Corps. The obstacles, anecdotes, and lessons learned reflect companies born with sustainable business in their DNA and entire teams committed to the goal of continuously improving and generating a positive impact with all their actions.
“It is an invitation to enter into a process of continuous improvement, because when you measure yourself against the system, you realize that there is still a lot to be done.
José Luis Quintero mentioned during his presentation what it means to enter the B Corp certification process and the challenges it entails. Additionally, the event was attended by other important players in the sector such as Sistema B Ecuador, YPSILOM, the World Food Programme, the EU Ambassador, Global Compact, the Franco-Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce, UDLA, and USFQ, among others.
Regarding the changes generated by developing spaces for dialogue, inspiration, and community like these, José Ignacio Morejón of Sistema B Ecuador said the following:
“We can develop more B Corp companies in Ecuador with these types of events and with these types of demonstrations that this is more than a certification; it's a community, a movement that moves on its own, with a single purpose of generating positive social and environmental impact, using business as a force for good.”.
For República del Cacao, becoming a B Corp is not the end, it is only the path, and its objective is to continue fostering knowledge exchange, creating platforms that promote the discussion of transformative ideas, and thus involve more actors in society on the path towards sustainability.
