Anglesey Sea Salt Company Halen Môn has been awarded B Corp status after demonstrating the highest social and environmental standards.
The certification means the north Wales business, who creates a range of naturally filtered, award-winning sea salt related products, will join a growing group of 29 companies in Wales already awarded the accreditation.
The growing B Corp community are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. They range from multinational corporations to wholly owned subsidiaries and small businesses.
Managing Director and co-founder, Alison Lea-Wilson said
“Halen Môn has always put the environment at its heart, after all, we rely on clean seas for our main ingredient. This is an unambiguous and rigorous certification. It has made us look at all aspects of our business, now and going forward.
“It has shown us how much more there is to do. It’s not something you ‘get’ and then put to one side. It’s something that underpins everything we do. It sits proudly alongside our BRC Grade AA food safety accreditation, and our Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) geographic indication status.
“I am proud of what Halen Môn has achieved and grateful to my team.”
Founded in 1997 by Alison and David Lea-Wilson, the company remains family owned and have succeeded in developing and maintaining a sustainable, successful business which employs local people, underpinned with environmental and educational principles whilst also attracting tourists to a rural, coastal area of Wales. They champion their staff and are committed to paying above the Living Wage and providing professional, social and wellbeing support. Their business culture is very important to them.
Halen Môn is committed to driving the business forward towards a more sustainable future as they move closer to their objective of zero to landfill every year by applying the principles of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ to all waste and co-products.
Commenting further Alison said,
“B Corp is not just a certificate, it recognises the culture and ethos of who we are. It has taken ten months to go through the rigorous verification process, covering governance, sustainability, how we support our staff and our community.
“B Corp is a programme of continual improvement and to maintain the certification we must continue to get better and we are absolutely committed to that.
“In achieving this certificate I would also like to pay tribute to our General Manager, Beth Tasker who put the hours into the application, and to the Welsh Government’s Sustainability Cluster which has been there since day one for help and support through the process.
“I look forward to working with the Cluster to spread the word to other producers so that Wales can show a critical mass of certified B Corp businesses that reflect our nation’s values and ethos.”
The role of the Welsh Government’s Sustainability Cluster is to support and develop sustainable business practices across Wales’ agri-food industry. This is delivered by utilising the successful triple helix approach, with government, industry and academia working hand in hand to tackle common industry problems. The Cluster is the central hub, providing intelligence to businesses, becoming the eyes and ears of the industry through developing networks and industry expertise to help Wales become a world leader in sustainability.
Lauren Smith, Cluster Manager at Levercliff who facilitates the Sustainability Cluster on behalf of Welsh Government said:
“It’s been great to support Halen Môn on their B Corp journey. It can be an intimidating process, but the Halen Môn team have shown real commitment and by working with the Cluster, we have accelerated their progress and made it much less of a daunting task. One-to-one support is available to all Welsh food and drink businesses looking to certify as a B Corp, via the Sustainability Cluster, and we look forward to growing the community in Wales.”
The Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths said:
“I would like to congratulate Halen Môn. Becoming a certified B Corp is a testament to the hard work and long-term commitment of the business.
“We are committed to helping Welsh food and drink businesses focus on sustainable growth and productivity, their climate and ecological impact as well as fair work and raising standards throughout the industry. We want Wales to be one of the most environmentally and socially responsible supply chains in the world as well as continuing to have a global reputation for excellence.”
