Measure What Matters New Hampshire Leading Company Feature: Stonyfield

(Photo Credits: Stonyfield)

Learn about Leading MWM NH Company Stonyfield's Commitment to Sustainability and the Value of Impact Assessments

Measure What Matters New Hampshire offers a clear and practical assessment tool NH businesses can use to benchmark their sustainability initiatives. This new program additionally offers members of the NHBSR community the opportunity to work with trained UNH student consultants to better develop their own sustainability programs. MWM NH participants will also have access to a members only Sustainable Resource Network and an accompanying series of specially tailored workshops.

Stonyfield's origins lie in a New Hampshire nonprofit farming school that was established to teach sustainable farming with a strong ethos of caring for the earth. The organic yogurt that Stonyfield is now famous for was actually just a byproduct of that initial mission. Now Stonyfield's products, made without the use of artificial hormones, antibiotics, GMOs, and toxic persistent pesticides, are sold across the country. Stonyfield continues to pursue its mission of being a leading environmental steward, all while supporting hundreds of family farms and providing healthy food that nourishes our communities.

In 2016 Stonyfield completed the full B-Impact Assessment and became a certified B Corps company, a designation earned by companies that meet a high standard for social and environmental performance. Through completion of the B-Impact assessment, Stonyfield was able to evaluate and gain deeper insight into its own corporate governance management, human resource practices, community and supply chain impacts and environmental practices.

"What has been most valuable for us in the assessment," says Lisa Drake, Director of Sustainability Innovation at Stonyfield, "is the validation from a third party standard evaluate where we are on sustainability, showing us that we can feel good about our business practices. We've gone through a lot of growth and change in the last few years and it's reassuring for our employees and our consumers to know we're on the right track." 

Any business, large or small, can take the Quick Impact or B-Impact Assessment. In the longer B-Impact Assessment questions are targeted to a company's size and type, whether in the production, manufacturing, or service industry. "Companies can really learn from the process of taking the assessment, seeing where they need to improve, and understanding the specifics of where they are doing really well. This clarification helps companies plan more effective improvement strategies."

Stonyfield will be involved in the Measure What Matters New Hampshire workshop series and Sustainable Resource Network, which will offer opportunities for other New Hampshire companies to connect with, learn from, and find inspiration in Stonyfield's commitment to our planet and communities.

Connect with Lisa at our Sustainability Slam on Nov 1 in Amherst or reach out to her by email at lisa.drake@stonyfield.com