The specialty coffee roaster and hospitality group, which includes the Ozone Coffee Roasters, Hasbean and West Coast Cocoa brands, joins a global community of over 5,000 businesses that meet B Corp’s high standards of social and environmental performance
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Ozone Coffee’s Emma Street store in London, UK.
Ozone Coffee Roasters International (OCRI), the specialty coffee group with operations in New Zeakand and the UK, has announced its B Corp certification.
B Corp certified companies are businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental performance and are evaluated by B Lab across five impact areas –governance, workers, community, environment, and customers.
Candidates must score a minimum of 80 points across impact areas to become B Corp-certified and must recomplete the assessment every three years.
OCRI, which includes Ozone Coffee Roasters UK and NZ, Hasbean and West Coast Cocoa, scored 83.4 in its B Impact Assessment, compared to a global average of 50.9.
OCRI said its certification underlined that sustainability was at the centre of its global operations , with initiatives such as investing in recyclable and compostable packaging and delivering local orders via bike couriers, helping the company to operate more sustainably.
In recent years OCRI has also become a certified Living Wage employer and reduced food waste in its eateries to less than 3%. The company is partnering with Green Element to conduct its first Carbon Footprint Audit and develop science-based targets to reduce emissions.
“We have always believed that coffee can change the world, and that we had an opportunity to create meaningful coffee experiences that inspire our community whilst championing sustainability in our industry. It is an honour to be part of the global B Corp movement, and it means that we now have the right framework to create long-term value for our community and shareholders, the coffee producers we work with and the environment,” said Lizzie Gurr, CEO, OCRI.
Founded in New Zealand in 1998 as a roastery and café business, OCRI currently operates four Ozone cafés, with branches in New Plymouth and Auckland in New Zealand and two stores in London.
Gurr led Ozone's entry to the UK market in 2012 and the acquisition of UK specialty coffee brand Hasbean in 2018. She was appointed OCRI’s first Global CEO in July 2022.