Pete & Gerry's Organics LLC, led by fourth-generation family farmers dedicated to humane treatment of animals, is the first animal farming business in the world to be named a Certified B Corporation.

Pete and Gerry’s Organics LLC, the parent company for both the Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs and the Nellie’s Cage-Free Eggs brands, is the first animal farming business in the world to be named a Certified B Corporation, joining more than 960 other companies in 32 countries that use business as a force for good. Pete and Gerry’s works with a growing network of over 60 small family farms to produce the highest-quality, freshest, certified-humane eggs and distributes them throughout the Eastern United States in select grocery stores, club stores and at fine foods retailers.

B Corps – the B stands for “benefit” – are a new kind of company that use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. Pete and Gerry’s Organics, led by fourth-generation family farmers dedicated to humane treatment of animals and to supporting small family farms, is just the third company in New Hampshire to achieve B Corps status.

Certified B Corporations have been compared to Fair Trade certification, except the entire business must be certified, not just a particular product. With performance standards that are comprehensive and transparent, B Corps are measured by their impact on all their stakeholders, including workers, suppliers, community and the environment.

“At Pete and Gerry’s, we’re incredibly proud to join international brands like Patagonia, Seventh Generation and Ben & Jerry’s as true leaders in sustainable business practices,” said Jesse Laflamme, a fourth-generation farmer, co-owner and CEO. “The vast majority of our B Corps peers are service providers; to achieve B Corps status as a business that also meets or exceeds strict environmental regulations while humanely raising livestock on small family farms, we have to work extra hard.”

B Corps third-party verification of sustainable business practices is operated by the nonprofit B Labs, co-founded by entrepreneur and social business visionary Jay Coen Gilbert.

To mark the announcement of Pete & Gerry’s joining the B Corps ranks (Pete & Gerry’s achieved B Corps certification in 2013), B Lab’s Gilbert toured the company’s headquarters in Monroe, N.H. on Feb. 18.

Gilbert also is participating with Pete and Gerry’s CEO Jesse Laflamme in a Feb. 19 panel discussion at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. Additional panel participants include Robert Hansen, senior associate dean of Tuck; Steve Voigt, CEO of King Arthur Flour; and Bryan Welch, publisher and editorial director of Ogden Publications. King Arthur Flour and Ogden Publications also are Certified B Corps.

The Certified B Corporation seal on Pete and Gerry’s cartons guarantees that the company is not just talking about running the business in a socially and environmentally conscious way. Pete and Gerry’s is living those values, and always will, because it believes it’s good business. The company must regularly earn and maintain a minimum score on B Lab’s B Impact Assessment – a comprehensive set of standards that measures overall social and environmental performance.

About Pete and Gerry’s Organics
Pete and Gerry’s Organics is committed to providing the highest-quality, freshest eggs possible from small family farms that follow the strictest standards of humane animal treatment, safety and environmental sustainability. A values-led company whose founders are fourth-generation farmers, Pete and Gerry’s was America’s first Certified Humane egg producer and was recently certified as the first animal farming business to become B Corp Certified. Headquartered in Monroe, New Hampshire, Pete and Gerry’s brand Organics Eggs and Nellie’s Cage-Free are raised on small family farms that are Certified Humane™ by Humane Farm Animal Care and are currently distributed throughout the Eastern United States. To learn more, visit: peteandgerrys.com and nelliescagefree.com.

About B Corp
Certified B Corporations meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests, and build collective voice through the power of the unifying B Corporation brand. As of February 2014, there are more than 960 Certified B Corporations from 32 countries and 60 industries, representing a diverse multi-billion marketplace.

About B Lab
B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves as a global movement to redefine success in business so that all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world. B Lab drives this systemic change through a number of interrelated initiatives: 1) building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for all of us to tell the difference between “good companies” and good marketing; 2) passing legislation to accelerate growth of social entrepreneurship and impact investing (20 states have already passed benefit corporation legislation); 3) developing B Analytics, a customizable platform for measuring, benchmarking, and reporting on impact 4) providing free, powerful tools for businesses to measure, compare and improve their social and environmental performance (more than 15,000 businesses use B Lab’s free B Impact Assessment).

Pete and Gerry's Organics LLC

Pete and Gerry's Organics LLC

Pete and Gerry’s Organics is committed to providing the highest-quality, freshest eggs possible from small family farms that follow the strictest standards of humane animal treatment, safety and environmental sustainability. A values-led company whose founders are fourth-generation farmers, Pete and Gerry’s was America’s first Certified Humane egg producer and was recently certified as the first animal farming business to become B Corp Certified.

Headquartered in Monroe, New Hampshire, Pete and Gerry’s brand Organics Eggs and Nellie’s Cage-Free are raised on small family farms that are Certified Humaneâ„¢ by Humane Farm Animal Care and are currently distributed throughout the Eastern United States. To learn more, visit: http://peteandgerrys.com/ and http://nelliescagefree.com/.

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