Since February, HelloPrint has been certified B Corp. With this CSR certification, the European platform for printed products dedicated to professionals assures compliance with high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency to the public and governance.
HelloPrint joins the ranks of 8,400 certified companies worldwide, including file transfer service provider WeTransfer, American ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's and the Nature et Découvertes retail chain.
But obtaining B Corp certification was not without its challenges for the group, which took around three years to earn the label.
In-depth analysis of HelloPrint's CSR performance
Firstly, HelloPrint carried out a comprehensive review of operations using the assessment developed by the NGO B Lab, the European authority overseeing the B Corp certification process. This assessment provided the company with valuable information on its performance.
This evaluation showed that HelloPrint excelled in employee satisfaction, diversity, inclusion, equity and societal contributions.
"But it also highlighted important areas for improvement, particularly with regard to our environmental impact." says Isabelle de Wolf, Director of Sustainable Development at HelloPrint. "Despite our unique network of over 300 local manufacturers and carriers in 31 countries, which significantly reduces carbon emissions, it became clear that we needed to do much more to align ourselves with B Corp's environmental standards."
Involving all employees in the B Corp process
In collaboration with employees from various departments, HelloPrint developed an action plan combining immediate, easily achievable projects with long-term changes.
A dedicated sustainability team has implemented clear sustainability objectives for each HelloPrint team.
"We quickly realized that you can only achieve impactful results by involving the whole company in the process", explains Rinke Raven, Head of Data and Strategy at HelloPrint. "By doing this, we have made each âeuros team and therefore the whole âeuros company responsible for change".
Towards a more sustainable supply chain...
To pursue this environmental approach, HelloPrint has also launched a comprehensive evaluation of all the manufacturers in its network, which includes 300 manufacturers.
"We've found that many partners have already taken significant steps to make their production more sustainable, but there's still a lot of work to be done regarding production methods, ink use, renewable energy and materials use." explains Nick Goudriaan, Head of Product and Procurement at HelloPrint, which delivers over 600,000 orders a year.
HelloPrint's next step is therefore to work on new standards for all its partners, in line with B Lab criteria. The group also hopes to bring about a fundamental change within its network.
... and towards a more virtuous product offering
In addition, the product offering plays a key role in CO2 reduction. With this in mind, HelloPrint has discontinued or modified some of its offerings. For example, it now offers roll-up kakemonos made from recycled cardboard and premium recycled cotton bags.
Rick Molenaar, Marketing Director at HelloPrint, states: "This is a difficult but necessary process, as we also strive to meet the needs of our customers. For us, providing them with the best possible information and encouraging them to make better choices is one of the primary objectives of this transition."
Zero net emissions in sight for 2030
This B Corp certification is just the first step on the road to a more sustainable future for HelloPrint, which is committed to achieving "Net Zero Emissions" by the end of 2030.
"Our next goal is to concretely implement a plan around a more sustainable supply chain and a new change in the product portfolio. But we also want to get more information about the impact of our industry as a whole, so that we can work with value chain partners on further changes" . We have an exciting future ahead of us and we're determined to play our part , adds Hans Scheffer, CEO and founder of HelloPrint is available here .
