Vanilla ingredients social enterprise Nei gains B Corp Certification
Vanilla business Nei, based in East Africa has gained B Corp status. Pic: Nei
East African vanilla ingredients social enterprise Nei has ended the year in celebratory style, attaining B Corp Certification for its global supplies, as it seeks to enhance its social and environmental performance, writes Neill Barston.
As the company observed, it was awarded a particularly high score of 120 in its accreditation for the international standard for ethical and employee standards standards within business operations.
The organisation, began in Tanzania in November 2011, rooted in a powerful vision: to cultivate prosperity for farmers while rigorously protecting the environment.
Significantly, it supplies a wide range of B2B customers operating across the food sector, including within confectionery and snacking markets, spanning formats including beans, powders, liquid and dry extracts. The group has also engaged with cocoa markets.
As the enterprise noted, from its comparatively humble beginning partnering with just 30 local farmers on Mt. Kilimanjaro, today, nei proudly collaborates with cooperative societies encompassing over 13,000 smallholder farmers across Tanzania and Uganda.
Consequently, as it explained, the entire value chain – from cultivation to value- added processing and R&D – is driven locally. This seamless integration is led by a dedicated team of young, local employees, expert agronomists, and the cooperatives’ own farmer champions.
A fully traceable, high- quality supply chain ensures that every step maximises shared value and opportunity for the region.
This journey is now led by the next generation of responsible and independent professionals from East Africa. Through training and mentorship, the local team supports economic growth, improves the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and fosters sustainable development across local communities. B Corp Certification represents an important step on this path, highlighting the company’s desire to serve all stakeholders.
Nicoletta Beatrice, VP Global Sales and Marketing, commented: “B Corp Certification underscores our commitment to empowering local teams and partners to lead the charge. Our young employees, agronomists, and cooperatives’ farmer champions are the backbone of our operations, driving innovation from farm to finished product and setting new benchmarks for expertise and social responsibility in East Africa.”
As the business explained, to achieve B Corp Certification, a company must be verified as meeting B Lab standards for social and environmental impact across five key areas: workers, governance, customers, environment, and community.
Achieving high scores across all five areas, alongside other key certifications, demonstrates nei’s focus on delivering both high-quality products and meaningful impact.
Nei’s commitment to premium quality and product differentiation is further supported by certifications relating to sourcing and production standards including the Rainforest Alliance, as well as continuous improvement frameworks from key organisations like EcoVadis.
