Case Study: How Planet & Purpose Guided Honeywell Bakes to B Corp™ Certification

Honeywell Bakes is an artisan bakery that makes beautiful hand iced biscuits and baking kits for people to make at home. Customers range from individual people to large corporations, and everyone in between!

The founder, Rebecca Honeywell-Ward, was raised in the beautiful British countryside, and has loved nature and wildlife for as long she can remember.

Honeywell Bakes began with Rebecca at her kitchen table, with a baby on her hip and piping bag in hand. It has since grown to a 7 figure business, but the care for people and planet that were there at the start are as strong as ever.

The Challenge

Rebecca had been considered B Corp certification for Honeywell Bakes for over a year. She knew that it would bring clarity to Honeywell Bakes’ purpose and a framework with which to improve, but there was not the time or resources to dedicate to it.

Rebecca also knew that whilst Honeywell Bakes was built on strong foundations, that there is always more to do and more to learn. She very much wanted to embrace the B Corp process and make sure that the principles were fully embedded in the business along the way.

My Approach

I worked alongside Honeywell Bakes from setting up the B Impact Assessment through to final verification with B Lab for both certification and re-certification. In practice, that meant:

• Gap analysis: reviewing were Honeywell Bakes performed against the B Impact Assessment framework to identify where evidence already existed, where there was a practice that needed formalising, and where larger opportunities for positive impact lay.

• Improvement phase: taking action to increase performance against the B Corp standards. This included (but was not limited to) creating policies, surveying the team and suppliers, gathering data, and collating evidence.

• Evaluation phase: leading communications with B Lab and the allocated verification partner,

• Post certification support: communication with the team, setting up on the B Hive, ongoing management of supplier surveys, team satisfaction surveys and so on.

The goal was always to achieve and maintain B Corp certification, ensuring that people and planet are considered on a par with profit.

The Outcome

Honeywell Bakes is a certified B Corp, has re-certified once with Planet & Purpose’s support, and we are continuing to work together towards their next recertification cycle in 2028.

Certification formalised Honeywell Bakes’ care for people and planet. It is there as a guiding force, and is a constant reminder of Rebecca’s ‘why’.