King Arthur Flour Becomes a Founding B Corporation™

Employee-Owned Company and Premier Baking Resource is Certified

February 15, 2008

The King Arthur Flour Company, founded in 1790 and the nation’s oldest flour company, was recently certified as a Founding B Corporation, setting a new corporate standard for social and environmental performance. B (Beneficial) Corporations are a new type of purpose-driven corporation that create benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders. To become certified, B Corporations must meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards, and amend their corporate governing documents to incorporate the interests of employees, community and the environment.

 
“We feel honored to be a founding B Corporation. Our participation is not only a validation that we’re on the right track with corporate social and environmental responsibility, but also a great tool and impetus in helping us continue to move in that direction,” said King Arthur Flour President and CEO Steve Voigt. “We’re glad to be one of the corporate leaders in this area and hope that our participation will inspire other companies to get on board.”
 
King Arthur Flour is among 82 Founding B Corporations with a collective market presence of $650 million, all leaders within the green, local-living economies; employee-ownership, fair-trade, organic, and sustainable business movements; and from the food, apparel, home, financial services, building, action sports, technology, business services, telecom, restaurant, marketing, and retail industries. Founding B Corporations are those that became certified before December 31, 2007. King Arthur Flour is one of only three Founding B Corporations in Vermont.
 
“As a 200 year old, 100% employee-owned company, King Arthur Flour is already a leader and a nationally admired brand.  Becoming a Founding B Corporation is a testament to their commitment to lead not only in Vermont and within the ESOP community, but also to influence the marketplace beyond the success of their individual company,” said Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab, the certifying organization. “Under the leadership of Steve Voigt and his team, King Arthur was the first B Corporation to incorporate the B Ratings System into their supply chain decisions and the first to integrate the B Corporation logo onto their packaging, bringing B Corporation to grocery shelves and kitchen cupboards across the country.”
 
America’s oldest flour company, King Arthur Flour has grown from a regional staple to a brand known nationwide not only for its high-quality flours but for its passion in sharing the joy of baking; from a small mail-order business with five employees in 1990 to the premier baking resource with nearly 200 employees today; from a family-owned operation for five generations to a 100 percent employee-owned business. King Arthur Flour offers more than 1,000 professional-grade baking tools and ingredients through its catalogue, at its retail store, The Baker's Store in Norwich, and through its website, www.kingarthurflour.com. Through its products, publications and national educational programs, King Arthur Flour continues to strive toward its mission: To be a creative and profitable company that's a product, information, and education resource for, and inspiration to, bakers worldwide.