Interview: Koninklijke Van Wijhe Verf, Paint Manufacturer, Netherlands

Inter iew: Konink ijke Van Wijhe Verf Paint Manufacturer Nether ands.

BCorpTwente meets Koninklijke Van Wijhe Verf

The ideal combination of innovation and sustainability

BCorpTwente is a group of ten entrepreneurs in the Twente region of the Netherlands, who set to work using the B Corp standard. A standard that helps organisations make sense of the value they create. To learn from other organisations working with B Corp, Bas van der Geest of Gebr Van der Geest and Mark de Lat of Eshuis Accountants and Advisers apprenticed with Royal Van Wijhe Verf. Marlies van Wijhe and Edwin van Broekhuizen, respectively General Manager and Sales Director Decorative Paints of Van Wijhe Verf started B Corp in 2015 and have been certified since 2016.

When Marlies informed her Management Team (MT) in 2015 about the ambition to become B Corp, their initial reaction was: “What do we need it for?" Now, some five years later, they don't want to be without. "As time went by, we found that this tool helps us make our sustainable ambitions visible and concrete, as becoming a B Corp was not easy", says Edwin, laughing.

The ideal combination of innovation and sustainability

The moment Marlies was awarded Business Woman of the Year 2010 is still vivid in her mind. "For me, this was the moment of being in the spotlight when you are expected to tell your story. My drive was to find a combination of innovation and sustainability. This accelerated both my own and our company's sustainability ambitions. When I subsequently took on a role in the Board of the Nudge Foundation, my ambitions were further honed. Especially given my background as a paint manufacturer.”

“A few years later, Jan van Betten, the founder of Nudge, called me. Jan advised me to become B Corp certified", Marlies continues, explaining the reason behind Van Wijhe's certification. “Since we were already very active in the field of sustainability, Jan thought it would be easy to achieve this. We soon found out that becoming a B Corp organisation requires intrinsic motivation. Not surprisingly, I almost gave up twice. Thanks to the support of B Corp International and a consultancy firm we managed to cross the finish line".

B Corp requires clear reasoning

Going from doing the right thing to qualifying for certification is a quantum leap for many organisations, Marlies and Edwin agree. “You start full of enthusiasm by stating what you are already doing. We then concluded that we already do a great deal, but that not all of this is documented. In the next phase, you allow yourself to be inspired by the B Corp standard. We noticed that it was “collecting” the 80 points required for certification that motivated us. Each time, we had to take a good look at how we could improve ourselves by what reasoning and actions. That critical look has brought us a lot", Marlies and Edwin tell us. “Moreover, B Corp is a good listener, as long as you can back up your reasoning," Marlies observes matter-of-factly.

Gather enthusiasts

Marlies and Edwin recognise that having sustainability in your DNA is not enough to get ahead. It must be recorded properly as well. “You can view this as documentary burden of proof. We prefer to see it as a way of thinking properly about our ambitions", says Edwin. “And where at the start it was Marlies' intrinsic motivation, we are now working on it throughout the organisation. We noticed this recently when we were working towards recertification with a team of enthusiasts from different departments within our company, ranging

from P&O to distribution and production.” "And indeed, this time the entire MT was involved", Marlies adds. "We now use B Corp as our sustainability management system. Because B Corp's question sets change constantly, it raises the bar higher and higher and encourages us to improve all the time”.

B Corp and Sustainable Development Goals

When asked how Marlies and Edwin view the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to B Corp, Marlies explains: "As a MT we started by choosing a number of SDGs to provide the basis for our practice. Now we focus on our practice and look at where our business operations converge with the SDGs. For example, if we organise a “sowing day” because we want to pay attention to biodiversity, we link it to the corresponding SDG. In doing so, we draw attention to sustainability on the basis of our business model and what we consider important. We adopt the same approach for our customers and suppliers. Now that we have a broader scope, we notice that there is an overlap with many more SDGs.

Forging a collective together!

Bas notes that, to date, few companies in the decorative paints sector are B Corp certified. He sees it as a challenge, together with Van Wijhe Verf, to motivate colleagues to move away from the adage “We're from toilet duck and we sell toilet duck.” "We see a lot of green washing", says Edwin. "So, it really needs to go beyond marketing because, from the B Corp standard, nice stories just don’t cut it. It would be nice to forge a collective in our sector", Bas and Edwin conclude together.

This interview was adapted from the Dutch version published on LinkedIn on 29 October 2020