B Corp New Standards - Recertification

The new B Corp Standards will come into force in 2026 and mark a welcome, significant shift that will raise the bar for all existing and aspiring B Corps. The new framework aims to facilitate bold leadership on the social and environmental issues that matter most.

What’s Changing?

No more scores, instead there will be minimum standards across 7 impact areas and a healthy move away from the B Corp league table mindset, to collective impact.

The 7 New Impact Areas:

🎯 Purpose and Stakeholder Governance

💼 Fair Work

⚖️ Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI for short)

🤝 Human Rights

🌎 Climate Action

🌿 Environmental Stewardship and Circularity

🤲 Government Affairs and Collective Action

 At heart of B Corp certification is continuous improvement and a strive for progress over perfection. Under the new standards, businesses are required to meet new additional requirements in years 3 and 5 following certification.

Recertifying Under The New Standards

In order to recertify, B Corps will need to assess their performance, using the B Impact Platform, against a tailored set of year 0 requirements.

The verification process, that will ensure performance has met the requirements, is in the process of being finalised by B LAB and we are expecting it to be communicated in the coming months.

Important Dates

B Corps with a recertification date in 2026 have been granted a 12 month extension (B Lab may have emailed you to confirm this).

 B Corps with a recertification date  after 1st Jan 2027, should assume this will remain unchanged.

There is a very important exception:

B Corps who sell products into the EU may be impacted by the European Union (EU) Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT - Directive 825/2024/EU ), effective September 2026.

The current B Corp certification model (known as version 6) does not comply with this Directive.

However, the new B Corp certification model (known as version 7) will comply with the new Directive.

 This means that for B Corps who sell products into the EU, they will not be able to use the B Corp logo on pack or in any consumer facing communications until they have recertified under the new version 7 standards.

 All available information about this can be read in B Lab’s FAQs here. B Lab is working to create certification pathways to enable companies to be certified on the new standards and certification model by September 2026 so that their certification is compliant with the EU’s ECGT Directive.

You may have received an email from B Lab UK about this. If you are not sure on whether your business is impacted, please do get in touch

Get Prepared

It is a good idea to understand how your business fares against these new standards as soon as possible. B Corps can do this by completing a self assessment in B Impact platform against the Year 0 requirements.This process will allow businesses to identify areas for improvement and consider the actions they need to take to meet the new standards.  B Lab is encouraging B Corps to do this as soon as possible.

We Can Help

Here at The Good Crowd we help food & drink businesses grow with purpose. We believe that the industry can and should be a force for good, and that focusing on people and the planet, alongside profit makes good business sense.

We’ve supported more than 40 purpose-led businesses on their B Corp journey, digested the 1000+ page New Standards requirements and are already helping B Corps prepare for recertification with confidence and clarity.

The Good Crowd are the partner for you if ….

 i.You’re eager to know how your company fairs against the new standards

ii.Your’re feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start on understanding the new requirements

iii.You’re short of time - B Corp is one of many things on your list

iv.You’re looking for B Corp experts who understand your industry inside out

v.You want to embed real, meaningful change that customers, employees and investors will value

Get in touch - catherine@thegoodcrowd.co.uk