Benefit Corporation as a New Model for Agrifood?

October 19, 2021

Sustainability, quality, and supply chain control are fundamental themes for agri-food companies and align with the benefit corporation model.

A benefit corporation is a qualification introduced by the legislator through the Stability Law for 2016, art. 1, paragraphs 376-384 (law no. 208 of December 28, 2015).

Through this model, companies can pursue traditional profit goals alongside social and environmental objectives.

However, this is not a commitment "external" to the company’s core business or merely managing environmental and social externalities through CSR approaches. It is a rigorous and formal approach, through which an organization institutionalizes in its bylaws the social and environmental goals it intends to achieve and that are at the heart of its business model.

A benefit corporation, therefore, is required to be responsible, meaning carefully managing its impacts on the environment and society, but also to be a generator of social value through clear and forward-looking planning of its "common benefit activities."

An example of how a benefit corporation defines its goals and the way to achieve them is the Boniviri Impact Map.

Benefit corporations are also required to report their performance regarding the results achieved and their impacts.

As explained in the Guide to the Establishment and Management of Benefit Corporations by the Chamber of Commerce of Taranto, the annual report must include an assessment of the impact generated in four areas: governance, workers, stakeholders, and environment.