BERKELEY, Calif. – Bison Organic Beer Owner Daniel Del Grande believes that a beer company can make a far-reaching and profound positive impact in the world. That belief runs through every facet of the way Del Grande operates his Berkeley-based brewing company — from choices of beer packaging and brewing location to selection of ingredients and hiring practices — and has resulted in Bison Organic Beer being recognized as a model of sustainability by being certified as a B Corporation.
B Corporation companies are a group of 369 businesses with over $1.8 billion in revenue that are committed to solving social and environmental problems. Through environmental best practices and socially responsible ethics, B Corporation members make a difference by the way they operate their business. Companies who have been B Corporation-certified include Numi Organic Tea and Method Products Inc.
Bison Organic Brewing’s recognition as a B Corporation company is a testament to the brewer’s long-standing belief that brewing world-class beer and building a better world can go hand in hand. Every aspect of the company has been refined, not with the bottom line in mind, but with the goal of enhancing the health of the surrounding society and environment. For example, a recent detailed examination of Bison’s business identified the two single biggest contributors to the brewery’s carbon footprint — agriculture and glass bottle production — reaffirming Del Grande’s commitment to organic agriculture and selling bottled beer only where there is extensive glass recycling. The brewery recently hired three Welfare-to-Work employees and pays a living wage. He brews this organic beer in existing breweries with excess capacity.
Each sustainable practice Bison Brewing adopts has a ripple effect felt far beyond the walls of the beer company — fewer pesticides are sprayed on crops, farmland erosion is minimized, government unemployment and Welfare costs drop, and the local community is strengthened by quality jobs.
“When you look at what Bison Brewing is doing just on the organic side, there are hundreds and hundreds of acres of agriculture that have been converted from non-organic to organic farmland just because of Bison Organic Beer,” said Del Grande. “The same can be said of other portions of our business — the way we operate impacts the community and world in a way that we are very proud of.”