Many small and medium businesses -- especially herbal, soap, skincare, cosmetic, clean beauty, chocolate, and organic food & beverage brands -- shy away from corporate social responsibility (CSR) because they think it’s for the big corporations to tackle and that their smaller teams lack the capacity to do it well.

To compound matters, learning about CSR can be mis-informing. CSR programs at Ivy Leagues schools often use case studies that focus on the biggest 20 corporations in the world -- they hype up Unilever, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Uber — leaving small organic brands wondering how sustainability practices could actually fit into their business. You may wonder how, if you’re not a mega-million company like Patagonia or REI, you can make a difference.

The fact is, you can. Every company including sole proprietors, can make a positive impact through their decisions that are based on positive core values. You don't need to hire a CSR executive to manage this for you and you don't need to have 10 departments that need training. Medium-sized companies (such as those with 30 employees and an annual budget of $5 million) can create enormous positive impact through responsible business practices based on corporate social responsibility.

Companies Doing ESG Right

Thankfully in today's world, there are natural and organic brands who are passionate about CSR and ESG (environmental, social and governance) advancement. They work toward a worthy purpose. They invest time, money, energy, profits, and expertise in doing the right thing for the long-haul and they share about their wins and challenges publicly, which is important.

Above all, there are companies embracing the "be a force for good" edict by establishing positive environmental and social values and implementing powerful purposes.

For instance, take Numi, the tea company based in California. You’ve likely seen their boxes of packaged herbal tea on health food store shelves. Their small team of roughly 43 is renowned for implementing purposeful activities that show their concern for water in their vendor’s farming communities. Even though they’re relatively small, the company established partnerships to create a program called Together for H2OPE, providing fresh drinking water to rural communities in India, Madagascar, and South Africa.

After all, says their website, what is herbal tea without water? They also partnered with a nonprofit to provide similar benefits in Ukraine. Finally, they are one of the landmark natural product companies producing tea packets in compostable wrappers, and they are verified Fair Labor and Fair Trade, making them a beacon of hope for employment candidates seeking socially and environmentally responsible career options.

Other companies develop innovative ways to be socially responsible, such as Equal Exchange which produces organic coffee, tea, cocoa and chocolate. With a team of 110, this company states that its “mission is to build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound, to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers and to demonstrate, through our success, the contribution of worker co-operatives and Fair Trade to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.” It doesn’t have to. Other chocolate and coffee companies simply hire vendors to harvest cacao beans, make the chocolate, and sell it without regard to employee values, fair hiring, or the farming implications of unsustainable agricultural practices.

The success of companies like Numi and Equal Exchange show us that it is, indeed, possible to be highly engaged with CSR and have positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts. In fact, not only is it possible, but it is desired. 

Corporate Social Responsibility, and its cousin ESG, should be beacons for all companies (natural and organic product makers or otherwise) to tangibly affect the progress of the world’s environmental and socially-forward movements. This idea of tangible is key—it’s not enough to say it or to post it on a website. The actual effects of building drinking water fountains in rural areas or hosting listening sessions for farmers is critical to the notion that businesses can be a force for good.

Strategy & Business Coach

Author, herbal entrepreneur, speaker, and coach Holly Bellebuono provides powerful 1:1 coaching for natural brands and aspiring authors. Her work with natural and organic product brands, including herbal and aromatherapy, clean beauty and cosmetics, chocolate, tea and coffee, and organic food and beverage brands, can expand leadership skills, help you bounce ideas, formulate strategy, develop vision, assess your plans, review concerns and challenges, and implement innovative and profitable next steps for success. Holly provides strong business services for small to medium organic brands, including strategy and business planning, business coaching, customized course design and build, book proposal development, and speaking services for events.

With 30 years’ experience in entrepreneurship, finance, project management, strategy, and planning in both for-profits and non-profits, Holly is known as a discreet and powerful executive coach.

Holly’s business courses include the online Natural Brand Certifications which teaches the environmental and social commitments your business or brand can make, such as B-corp, organic, fair trade, WBENC, and cruelty-free. Holly’s Product Maker’s Business Bundle combines three essential courses at a 20% discount.