Ellis Wharton Wines are delighted to announce that we have become a certified B Corporation or B Corp.

We are only the third UK Wine Merchant / distributor to achieve this fantastic accolade, closely behind North South Wines in London and fellow Cornish wine merchant Old Chapel Cellars, and are excited to join a small but growing community of 30 Cornish B Corp’s which includes fantastic brands such as Rodda’s, Origin Coffee, Finisterre and St Eval Candles.

Since our very beginning in 2006 our mission at Ellis Wharton Wines has been clear: To provide fine wines and spirits with an emphasis on small independent growers using organic, biodynamic and sustainable methods, and to educate, challenge and care for all stakeholders.

Charles Wharton, owner of Ellis Wharton Wines said “We are incredibly proud to have officially become a B Corp. It’s very rewarding to have our commitment to the highest environmental and social standards validated.”

Charles would like to thank the whole team for their commitments to the rigorous verification process and looks forward to connecting with fellow B Corps who also want to make a positive impact to Cornwall and the world through the way we operate.

This certification will shape our future aspirations as one of the UK’s leading Independent Wine Merchants which considers people, planet and profit at its very core.

What is a B Corporation?

Certified B Corps are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

The process is vigorous and B Lab leaves no stone unturned! Successful businesses like us must be awarded at least 80 points to be successfully certified.

For more information, please visit the B Corp website watch the below video:

The Benefits of being a B Corp

B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.

In order to achieve certification, a company must:

• Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review. Multinational corporations must also meet baseline requirement standards.
• Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.
• Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.

As leaders in the movement for economic systems change, B Corps reap remarkable benefits. They build trust with consumers, communities, and suppliers; attract and retain employees; and draw mission-aligned investors. As they are required to undergo the verification process every three years in order to recertify, B Corps are by definition also focused on continuous improvement, leading to their long-term resiliency.

B Corp Certification is holistic, not exclusively focused on a single social or environmental issue. And the process to achieve and maintain certification is rigorous and requires engaging teams and departments across your company. Taking company size and profile into account, verification involves documentation of your company’s business model and information about your operations, structure, and various work processes, as well as review of potential public complaints and possible site visits. Recertification confirms these standards continue to be met on an ongoing basis.

What next?

Our whole team – Victoria, Charles, John, Paul, Jim, Steve, Mike and Jenny - share the same ethos regarding environmental sustainability, valuing people, planet and being part of the local community.

By becoming a Certified B Corp, we are committed to transparency and continual improvement, and we want to whole heartedly thank all our customers for coming on this journey with us and we are excited to see where the future takes us!