soulbottles is the best B Corp company in Germany
UPDATE September 2026:
soulbottles is no longer a certified B Corp. This doesn't change anything for now regarding the things that led to our certification. Details to follow.
We have really great news! In our recent recertification as a B Corp company, we received the fantastic score of 167.5 . This makes us the No. 1 of the German B Corps and among the Top 10 B Corps worldwide!! (maximum 200 points possible, as of 18.01.2023)
We almost dropped the soulbottle out of our hands in all the excitement! What this result means and what the journey there was like, you'll find out in this blog post.
Employee leadership, ecological improvement, and social impact are not compatible with profitable entrepreneurship? And how! More and more companies are joining the B Corp movement, and soulbottles is one of them! Who, how, what, why, why, why? Let's take a little detour into the world of sustainable business.
the best companies FOR the world, not in the world
How can a company help to change the world for the better
our journey to becoming a B Corp
soulbottles was founded with the goal of making our world more sustainable and plastic-free. Justice, fairness, and resource conservation
Saying that you care about sustainability and social responsibility is relatively easy, and even some corporate giants claim to do so.
But how can you tell that these are companies that mean business? It is difficult, and everyone who has ever looked into eco- and Fairtrade labels knows: an emblem is not enough. Even though many labels are intended to give customers guidance and confidence in their purchasing decision, they often only cover one area. However, we are interested in the holistic work and impact as a company.
At soulbottles, we see a clear responsibility in various areas: we want to produce a meaningful product from fairly traded, sustainable materials in a process that is gentle on people and the environment. We also want to treat our employees well and pay them fairly. We want to raise awareness about topics such as sustainability, water scarcity, and plastic, and enable underprivileged people to have access to clean drinking water.
This is why we already set high standards for production, sustainability, and fair treatment of employees during product development. We work with traditional family businesses to guarantee good working conditions, high quality, and short transport routes.
With our organizational model of Holacracy, which we introduced in 2014, we ensure flat hierarchies in the areas of responsibility and efficient decision-making processes that all employees share. We also believe in empathetic internal and external relationships, train all our employees in nonviolent communication, and provide both time and budget for personal development.
We have been very aware since the beginning that not everyone can live as well as we do in Germany and simply fill drinking water from the tap. That is why a portion of our income has been going to Viva con Agua drinking water projects since soulbottles was founded, and since 2021 even to our own project WASH’n’soul, which we are implementing together with Viva con Agua and BORDA in Zambia. In total, we have collected and transferred over €1.6 million (as of 2023).
Are we alone with these high standards of entrepreneurially responsible business? Is our ambition a completely utopian idea for which there are no labels or certifications?
Not at all! Because more and more B Corps think like we do: the power of entrepreneurship can be used for good!
"using business as a force for good“
soulbottles was among the first 100 companies in Germany to be awarded the B Corp label. Companies such as Ecosia, Coffee Circle, share, and Startnext have now also joined. Worldwide, we are one of over 6,300 companies that are rethinking entrepreneurship
During the certification process , the entire company is examined, with everything from employee leadership and environmental sustainability to social impact being thoroughly checked.
Since we have tried to build our entire company as sustainably as possible from day one, we did not have to change anything in our production processes to obtain the certification—and have been an official part of the B Corp family since the end of 2015.
soulie Patrick accepts the “Best for the World – Community” award 2022
But we did not rest on our laurels: since then, we have repeatedly looked at our processes and production conditions, turned a few screws, and gone the extra mile. And we were rewarded with a sensational result in our recent recertification, which we ourselves could hardly believe: With a
This means that since the first certification, we have increased our score by almost 100%
This is an incredible result and makes us immensely proud. Because let’s be honest: dedicating ourselves to our core values day after day and sending so many soulmates out into the world is one thing, but also having it confirmed externally and independently that we are doing it pretty well is simply an incredibly great feeling!
In conjunction with our outstanding result in our GWÖ certification, we can now claim to be a double leader: because we are also No. 1 in Germany in GWÖ! GWÖ—what was that again? Read here more about our certification as a common-good economy company and take a look at our impact.
what is a B Corp? the little a-b-corp
Are you curious and want to know more about B Corp ? Then check out the official video from the umbrella organization B Lab, which explains what B Corp stands for in just 2 minutes.
And now: get to work and continue saving the world, because we are far from finished!
