Horizon Organic milk, Wallaby yogurts brands certified as BCorps

BROOMFIELD — Horizon Organic and Wallaby, a milk and a yogurt brand, respectively, that were sold off by Danone North America in early 2024, recently received Benefit Corporation, or B Corp, certification. 

The certification is similar to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for “green”-conscious companies that pledge to meet certain standards in areas such as governance, employees, customers, community and the environment.

“Attaining B Corp Certification underscores our longstanding dedication to doing business responsibly and always with sustainability as our north star,” Tyler Holm, CEO of Horizon Organic and Wallaby, said in a prepared statement. “Now is the time to continue operating with people and the planet in mind and to lean into a culture of continuous improvement aimed at doing business that’s better for our employees, the environment and the communities where we live, work and operate.”

The certification process is rigorous. Nonprofit B Corp administration organization B Lab conducts onsite audits to make sure companies do the things they’ve pledged to do. That could include doing business with certain other socially conscious suppliers or making sure office supplies are made of recycled products whenever possible.

For consumers, the B Corp certification label indicates that a company follows fair labor practices and other similar standards.

B Corps are required to undergo the verification process every three years, keeping them focused on continuous improvement, the nonprofit organization that assesses and certifies companies as B Corps. 

“As B Corp movement partners, Horizon Organic and Wallaby will remain committed to redefining success in business to ensure the consideration of the wellbeing of all stakeholders,” B Lab growth manager João Campos said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to Horizon Organic and Wallaby sustaining meaningful and active participation in the B Corp community, working together as a force for good.”

Horizon Organic and Wallaby had B Corp status when they were under the umbrella of Danone North America, a Broomfield-based subsidiary of the French food and beverage umbrella company that has its own B Corp certification. 

In early January, Danone inked a deal with Los Angeles-based private-equity Platinum Equity to sell the milk and yogurt brands. 

The deal came after Danone conducted a review of its “businesses that fell outside our priority growth areas of focus,” Danone CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique said in a prepared statement at the time. 

Danone had been mulling a sale of Horizon and Wallaby for at least a year. In late January 2023, the company said that the decision to explore divestiture of its dairy businesses came as a result of a company-wide “portfolio review and asset rotation program.”

Wallaby and Horizon accounted for about 3% of Danone’s global revenues in 2022.

Horizon, co-founded by local natural and organic-products industry luminary Mark Retzloff, was the first certified-organic dairy with national distribution. The company was absorbed by Danone in 2018 as part of a $10.4 billion merger with its former parent company White Wave Foods. 

“Premium offerings, including organic and value-added products, are driving the growth in the dairy milk category,” Platinum Equity managing director Adam Cooper said in a statement. “Horizon Organic is a pioneer of that segment and is in position to continue capitalizing on and accelerating the trend.”