B Corp Brands and Who Owns Them

B Corp certification was supposed to be simple. A company meets standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency, gets certified by B Lab, and earns the right to display the B Corp logo. Consumers see the logo and trust that the company is genuinely committed to doing good.

But the reality is more complicated. Ben & Jerry's certified as a B Corp in 2012, then lost certification after its parent company, Unilever, took control. Seventh Generation certified as a B Corp and maintained it under the same parent company. Dr. Bronner's, the top-scoring B Corp in North America, dropped its certification in 2025, arguing that B Lab had compromised the integrity of the standard. Patagonia went beyond B Corp entirely, transferring ownership to a charitable trust.

Understanding B Corp brands and who owns them requires understanding what the certification actually measures, what happens when a certified brand gets acquired, and how to verify current status rather than trusting packaging claims.

What Is a B Corp?

B Corp is a certification from B Lab, a nonprofit organization, for companies that meet standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. To certify, a company must score at least 80 out of 100 on the B Impact Assessment, which evaluates governance, workers, community, environment, and customers.

B Corp is a company-level certification, not a product certification. It evaluates the whole company, not individual products. This is an important distinction. A company can be a certified B Corp while selling some products that are not environmentally friendly.

B Lab's B Corp Directory at bcorporation.net lists currently certified B Corporations. If a brand claims B Corp status, verify it there rather than accepting the marketing claim. Certification can lapse, and many brands imply B Corp status without holding current certification.

Recertification is required every three years. B Lab published new global standards in April 2025, representing the most significant overhaul of the certification in its history. The new standards require companies to meet independently verified performance thresholds across seven Impact Topics, from Climate Action to Human Rights, with mandatory improvement milestones at three and five years.

The B Corp Acquisition Paradox

When a B Corp is acquired by a larger corporation, certification can be maintained or lost. The outcome depends on whether the parent company supports the brand's mission or undermines it.

Ben & Jerry's certified as a B Corp in 2012. It lost certification after the Unilever acquisition. It has not regained it.

Seventh Generation maintains its B Corp certification under Unilever. It continues to operate as a standalone brand with ingredient transparency advocacy.

Patagonia transferred ownership to a charitable trust in 2022, going beyond B Corp to create a structure that makes ethical compromise structurally impossible.

Dr. Bronner's dropped its B Corp certification in 2025, arguing that B Lab's certification of multinationals like Unilever Australia, Nespresso, and Nestle Health Sciences had compromised the integrity of the standard.

The paradox is clear. B Corp certification can survive acquisition, but only if the parent company commits to maintaining the standards. When the parent company's interests conflict with the brand's mission, certification becomes unsustainable.

Ben & Jerry's: Lost B Corp, Fighting for Independence

Ben & Jerry's was founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont. The brand built its identity around social activism, supporting racial justice, LGBTQ rights, climate action, and other progressive causes.

The company was sold to Unilever in 2000 for $326 million. The acquisition terms included an independent board with authority over the brand's social mission. That independence began to erode in 2021, when Ben & Jerry's announced it would stop selling products in the occupied Palestinian territories. Unilever reversed the decision.

Ben & Jerry's certified as a B Corp in 2012. It lost certification after the Unilever acquisition. The association with Unilever almost certainly damaged Ben & Jerry's standing with some customers.

The conflict escalated further. Ben & Jerry's sued Unilever in 2024, alleging it had blocked the company from expressing support for Gaza. CEO David Stever was ousted in March 2025. Co-founder Jerry Greenfield resigned in September 2025 after 47 years.

Co-founder Ben Cohen launched the "Free Ben & Jerry's" campaign, calling on the Magnum Ice Cream Company (the Unilever spinoff) to sell the brand. Cohen estimates Ben & Jerry's is worth between $1 billion and $2 billion and has been gathering funds from like-minded investors for a bid.

Cohen said: "The longer this goes on, the more they're destroying the brand equity. The very thing that has built the brand, this values-led way of doing business, is the very thing that they're destroying."

It's hard for activist brands to stay true to themselves after corporate buyouts. Ben & Jerry's is the most public example of this tension.

Seventh Generation: B Corp Under Unilever

Seventh Generation was acquired by Unilever in 2016 for approximately $700 million. The plant-based cleaning brand's name references the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy, which states that decisions should consider the impact on the seventh generation to come.

Unlike Ben & Jerry's, Seventh Generation maintains its B Corp certification under Unilever. The brand continues its ingredient transparency advocacy work and has expanded distribution into more mainstream retailers after the acquisition.

Seventh Generation demonstrates that B Corp certification can survive acquisition, but it requires the parent company to commit to maintaining the standards. Unilever has allowed Seventh Generation to operate with autonomy, preserving the brand's identity and mission.

However, Unilever also manufactures Domestos and Cif, conventional cleaning products containing the synthetic chemicals Seventh Generation was founded to replace. This creates an inherent tension: the parent company profits from the very products the B Corp brand exists to challenge.

Patagonia: Beyond B Corp

Patagonia transferred ownership to a charitable trust in 2022. Founder Yvon Chouinard announced: "Earth is now our only shareholder." All profits go to environmental causes via the Holdfast Collective.

Patagonia earned a B Impact Score of 166.0, well above the 80-point threshold for B Corp certification. The median score for ordinary businesses is 50.9. Patagonia has been certified since December 2011.

But Patagonia went beyond B Corp. By transferring ownership to a trust, the company created a structure that makes ethical compromise structurally impossible. There are no shareholders to demand profit maximization. There is no acquirer who could buy the brand and dilute its mission. Patagonia, now valued at about $3 billion, remains one of the few examples of a large environmentalist brand that has not sold out.

This is the gold standard for ethical brand ownership. B Corp certification is a commitment, but an ownership structure that aligns with the mission is a guarantee.

Dr. Bronner's: Family-Owned B Corp That Dropped Certification

Dr. Bronner's, the top-selling natural soap brand in North America, dropped its B Corp certification in February 2025. The company had been the highest-scoring B Corp, with a score well above the threshold.

The decision followed a multi-year campaign by Dr. Bronner's calling on B Lab to improve its standards. The company argued that B Lab had failed to prevent the dilution of the B Corp mission by certifying large multinationals with histories of serious ecological and labor issues.

Dr. Bronner's stated: "The increasing certification of multinationals including Unilever Australia and Nespresso in 2022 followed by Nestle Health Sciences in 2023 demonstrated that B Lab is not committed to protecting the integrity of the B Corp Certification and movement, nor ensuring that the certification won't be used to mislead consumers."

The company had advocated that certified companies, especially large multinationals, should be required to certify all major supply chains to credible eco-social certifications. B Lab did not adopt this requirement.

Dr. Bronner's remains family-owned since 1948, with over $200 million in annual revenue. The company has donated over $100 million in profits to social and environmental causes and certifies its entire supply chain to fair trade and regenerative organic standards.

This case shows that B Corp certification is not the only path to ethical business. A company can be genuinely ethical without the certification, and a company can hold the certification without being genuinely ethical.

The Body Shop: B Corp Lost and Found

The Body Shop was founded by Anita Roddick as a social purpose company. It was sold to L'Oreal in 2006, a company known for its animal testing. The brand became what has been fairly described as a "respectable and normal commercial player."

L'Oreal sold The Body Shop to Natura in 2017. The brand entered UK administration in 2024. Seventeen years after it was originally sold by founder Anita Roddick, the retailer is currently being dismembered.

The Body Shop's trajectory shows the worst-case scenario for ethical brands. Repeated acquisitions eroded brand identity until nothing remained of the original mission. The company that pioneered cruelty-free beauty became a shell of itself, passed between owners who valued the brand name more than the values behind it.

Other Notable B Corp Brands

Several other consumer brands hold or have held B Corp certification:

• Allbirds certified in December 2016 with a B Impact Score of 96.5. The footwear company is dedicated to making sustainable shoes using natural materials.
• Danone North America is one of the largest B Corps, certifying in 2018. Danone North America owns Dannon, Activia, and Horizon Organic.
• Grove Collaborative is a B Corp focused on sustainable household products.
• Plum Organics was acquired by Campbell's and maintained B Corp certification for a period.
• Stoneyfield Farm is owned by Lactalis via Danone and has been associated with B Corp values.

Many brands imply B Corp status without holding current certification. The key question for each is: does the parent company support or undermine the B Corp mission?

How to Verify B Corp Status

1. Go to bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp 2. Search by brand name or company name 3. Check the certification date and current status 4. Look at the B Impact Score and subscores 5. Note the recertification date (every 3 years)

Certification can lapse, and many brands imply B Corp status without holding current certification. Third-party certifications such as B Corp status require ongoing renewal and can lapse or be discontinued. Do not trust packaging claims. Verify in the directory.

If a brand claims B Corp status but is not in the directory, it may have lost certification, dropped it voluntarily (like Dr. Bronner's), or never held it. In any case, the claim is not currently valid.

FAQ

What is a B Corp?

A B Corp is a company certified by B Lab as meeting standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Companies must score at least 80 out of 100 on the B Impact Assessment, which evaluates governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. Recertification is required every three years. B Corp is a company-level certification, not a product certification.

Can a B Corp be acquired?

Yes, but certification is not guaranteed to survive. Ben & Jerry's lost B Corp certification after being acquired by Unilever. Seventh Generation maintained certification under Unilever. The outcome depends on whether the parent company supports the brand's mission and allows it to maintain the standards required for certification.

Did Ben & Jerry's lose B Corp status?

Yes. Ben & Jerry's certified as a B Corp in 2012 but lost certification after the Unilever acquisition. It has not regained it. Co-founder Ben Cohen is campaigning for the Magnum Ice Cream Company to sell Ben & Jerry's so it can return to independent ownership.

How do I verify B Corp certification?

Go to bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp and search by brand or company name. Check the certification date, current status, and B Impact Score. Certification requires renewal every three years, so a brand that was certified five years ago may no longer hold current certification. Do not rely on packaging claims alone.

Sources

1. B Lab — B Corp Directory — https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/ 2. Dr. Bronner's — "Statement on Dropping B Corp Certification" (February 2025) — https://info.drbronner.com/all-one-blog/2025/02/dr-bronners-statement-on-dropping-b-corp-certification/ 3. B Lab — "Companies Achieve B Corp Certification Under New Global Standards" (June 16, 2026) — https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/news/press/companies-achieve-b-corp-certification-under-new-global-standards/ 4. NY Mag — "The Fight to Free Ben & Jerry's" — https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ben-and-jerrys-ben-cohen-unilever-magnum.html 5. Free Ben & Jerry's Campaign — https://freebenandjerrys.com/ 6. VTDigger — "Ben Cohen Fights to Save the Soul of Ben & Jerry's" (May 27, 2026) — https://vtdigger.org/2026/05/27/

All brand ownership data verified through WhoBrands.com's research methodology. Last updated: July 16, 2026.