Leading recipe box company Gousto is pleased to announce that it has become a certified B Corporation™, joining a global community of businesses who meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
Gousto is on a mission to become the UK’s most loved way to eat dinner, which means creating the best possible experience for customers across the country.
As part of its mission, Gousto is dedicated to offering a more sustainable meal, from reducing the nation’s food waste to cutting plastic in their recipe boxes. Precise ingredients and order forecasting means no food waste in the home and less than 1% in fulfilment centres.
Gousto doubled its capacity in 2020, investing in its existing fulfilment centre in Lincolnshire and adding a second automated factory in December. Gousto plans to add two further fulfilment centres in Essex and Cheshire to meet accelerating demand.
All four sites are planned to run off 100% renewable energy with the upcoming site in Warrington, Cheshire built with rooftop solar panels, providing a significant amount of energy for the site. Energy saving initiatives such as light sensors increase the efficiency of the operation, further reducing Gousto’s carbon footprint.
Gousto CEO and founder Timo Boldt said; “I’m so proud that Gousto is joining a global community of businesses dedicated to building a better world. Our purpose is to make sure every meal leaves the world better off, and we will continue to invest in innovation and find new ways to offer UK households a more sustainable dinnertime.
“We couldn’t be happier about joining other B Corp partners with the same goal. Together we’ll be making an even bigger impact than we could on our own, while encouraging other businesses to follow suit and find new, innovative ways to be greener.”
The certification comes after a recent study by environmental services company Foodsteps revealed that dinners from Gousto produce 23% less carbon emissions than equivalent meals from supermarket stores. If every home in the country replaced supermarket dinners with meals from Gousto for just one year, 10.3 million tonnes of CO2e could be saved. That’s the same as taking nearly 140,000 buses off the road for a year.
Becoming a certified B Corp not only signifies a commitment to growing the right way for the planet, but also for people.
Gousto recently announced its commitment to becoming a Real Living Wage employer, so all colleagues at the company can live well and be fairly rewarded for their hard work. In making this commitment, Gousto joins over 7,000 UK employers that are dedicated to paying a wage based on the real UK cost of living.
Gousto also recently launched the Cookstarter campaign, offering much-needed support to independent restaurants across the UK at a time of need, as well as partnering with Fareshare to redistribute surplus food to those in need.
Kate Sandle, Director of Programmes and Engagement of B Lab UK, says “We are delighted to welcome Gousto to the B Corp community. This is a movement of companies who are committed to changing how business operates and who believe business really can be a force for good. We know that Gousto is going to be a fantastic addition to the community and will continue driving the conversation forward”.
