República del Cacao presents, Cacao Talks: Why become a B Corporation?
República del Cacao promotes the exchange of knowledge among its entire community of farmers, producers, allies, collaborators, chefs, and chocolate lovers. With the aim of encouraging more change-makers to emerge, on March 29th, the company held its event “Cacao Talks: Why become a B Corporation?” along with the participation of two other important organizations in the sector, TippyTea and Cusi, closing out the B Corp month.
República del Cacao’s Cacao Talks originated in 2019 as a space for dialogue, sharing, and inspiration within the community. After a 3-year pause due to the pandemic, the company reopened this space online during the B Corp month, celebrated globally in March.
In Ecuador, there are only 27 certified B Corporations, with República del Cacao being one of them. The objective 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 month, República del Cacao and its collaborators shared with their community their good practices and projects of positive impact, thanks to which they have obtained this certification. They closed the month with this great event, the essence of which was to exchange experiences and valuable ideas so that more companies join the B Corp movement.
República del Cacao moderated this panel discussion, held at its Chocolate Boutique in La Floresta, led by its Sustainable Business Coordinator, Carolina Falconí. 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 these companies were founded in Ecuador, and each has a different story about their journey towards becoming B Corps. The obstacles, anecdotes, and lessons they gained reflect companies that were born with sustainable business in their DNA and entire teams committed to the goal of continuously improving and generating positive impact with all their actions.
“It is an invitation to enter into a continuous improvement process, because when you measure yourself against the system, you realize that there is still much to be done”.
Mentioned José Luis Quintero during his intervention, speaking about what it means to enter the B Corp certification process and the challenges it entails. Additionally, the event was attended by other important actors 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 from 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 is a community, a movement that moves on its own, with a single purpose of generating a positive impact on social and environmental issues, using business as a force for good”.
For República del Cacao, being a B Corp is not the end, it’s just the journey, and their goal is to continue fostering the exchange of knowledge, creating platforms that promote the discussion of transformative ideas, and thus involving more actors in society on the path toward sustainability.
