A pair of New England craft breweries have shared the results of their philanthropic efforts. Portland, Maine’s Allagash Brewing and Waitsfield, Vermont’s Lawson’s Finest Liquids each shared their respective impact reports this month.
Both companies received B Corporation Certification, meaning their businesses are “meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials,” according to B Corp.
Here are highlights from each of the breweries’ reports.
Allagash Grows Its B Corp Impact Score
Allagash founder Rob Tod shared that the most important figure in the brewery’s 10-page report was 20.2 – the number of points the company’s B Impact score increased. The assessment is tallied every three years, a requirement of maintaining B Corp certification, which Allagash first achieved in 2019.
“[T]hat jump represents, for me, a big truth that I’ve learned after nearly 30 years in brewing: being a good business is good for business,” he said.
Tod added that the increase is due to initiatives across the “entire brewery,” including:
- Increasing the brewery’s use of Maine-grown grain year-over-year by 25.9%, to 1.89 million pounds;
- Reducing its water consumption per gallon of beer, “down to 3.1 gallons of water per gallon of beer, beating the industry average;”
- Donating $600,000 to philanthropic endeavors in its community;
- Pledging $200,000 over the next four years to support nursing scholarships at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and the Child Life Program;
- Giving 20,000 pounds of food and basic necessities to families and children in the greater Portland area via its partnership with The Locker Project;
- Collaborating on two beers with Crowns & Hops and Montclair Brewery to increase racial equity in craft beer;
- And keeping 98% of the brewery’s waste out of landfills, via recycling, side streaming, composting and waste reduction programs.
Allagash’s staff also volunteered 1,322 hours of their time over the course of 2023 and 55 employees hit their full 16 hours of paid volunteer time last year. Among other initiatives, Allagash’s workers received $5,250 for education reimbursement.
Allagash also gives 1% of its revenue to local partners and nonprofits.
“But, I think one thread running through all of our success can be attributed to our mindset of incremental improvement across everything we do,” Tod added.
Allagash’s production output increased enough in 2023 to push the brewery up five spots on the Brewers Association’s ranking of the country’s top 50 craft breweries by volume. Allagash jumped to No. 15, up from No. 20 in 2022.
Lawson’s Breaks Down 2023 Charitable Giving
Lawson’s, which achieved B Corp Certification last year, shared a breakdown of its charitable giving in 2023 as part of its Social Impact Program (SIP).
SIP is a five-pronged program that includes:
- A focus on being a great place to work. The company received a Governor’s Excellence in Worksite Wellness Silver Level award via the Vermont Department of Health and the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports;
- Donations through its Sunshine Fund that gave 24 Vermont nonprofits $312,025;
- Donations through its Sip of Support initiative of $107,338, including $76,000 to 52 nonprofit groups on Giving Tuesday;
- Donations through its Good Brews for a Cause initiative of $59,233;
- Through its Green is Grand initiative, the company finished a campus-wide solar project at its Waitsfield brewery, which the company said will offset 100% of its electricity needs.
Since 2018, Lawson’s has donated more than $2 million to more than 300 nonprofits via SIP.
Also last year, Lawson’s donated 4,098 gallons of fresh water to Vermont communities affected by flooding from a July 10 torrential rainstorm. The brewery’s team volunteered for 219 hours and the company donated $29,081 to the Vermont Community Foundation through Lawson’s Vermont Strong Pale Ale collaboration beer program.
Fifteen breweries from Vermont, New Hampshire, Virginia, Connecticut and Rhode Island took part in the effort, donating a portion of the sales of the beer to the Vermont Flood Response & Recover Fund.
Brewbound named Lawson’s the 2023 Craft Brewery of the Year in its annual awards.