Benefit Corporation

Mickelberry Gardens is Awesome!

Mickelberry Gardens Mission Statement

Our mission is to offer healing and delicious products inspired by the gifts of the honeybees.

We are committed to helping individuals and families have access to affordable herbal products, and to increase the empowering practice of self-care. 

We hope to inspire protection, appreciation, and relationship with plants, insects, and the natural world with our product line.

Our business strives to support local producers and our local economy. More than 50% of every purchase we make comes from local, independent suppliers.

Benefit Corporation Status

As of 2021, Mickelberry Gardens is an Oregon Benefit Company – a specific type of corporation that considers its impact on society and the environment in the business decision-making process, in addition to earning a profit.

An Oregon Benefit Corporation is required to assess itself by a third-party standard to ensure it’s creating a positive impact. The standard we have adopted is the B Lab Standard through the B Impact Assessment.

We have achieved B Corp Certification as of March 15, 2023!

An Oregon Benefit Corporation is also required to publish an annual report on its website that shows how we met the standards.

2022 Oregon Benefit Company Report – Mickelberry Gardens

The B Impact Assessment considers a company’s impact in several different areas. Below we describe how Mickelberry Gardens created an impact in each area.

Government

We treat our social and environmental impact as a primary measure of success for our business and prioritize it even in cases where it may not drive profitability.

Our Mission Statement includes a commitment to a target beneficiary group (local producers and our local economy) and a specific positive environmental impact (We hope to inspire protection, appreciation, and relationship with plants, insects, and the natural world with our product line), and a general commitment to social and environmental responsibility (helping individuals and families have access to affordable herbal products and increasing the empowering practice of self care).

To support internal management and good governance, we have a formal organizational chart outlining management and responsibility; we have written job descriptions for all employees that outline responsibilities; and we have consistent team meetings to plan strategy and make decisions. We also disclose financial information about the company to our staff annually.

Workers

All of our employees are paid a living wage. Full time employees are eligible for health insurance premium reimbursements through a company QSEHRA plan.

We provide workers with non-career specific life-skill training through an optional, paid financial literacy and investing course.

We have a comprehensive Employee Handbook that includes: a non-discrimination statement; anti-harassment policy with reporting mechanisms, processes, and disciplinary procedures; a statement on work hours; policies on pay and performance issues; policies on benefits, training, and leave; grievance resolution process; disciplinary procedures and possible sanctions; and prohibition of child labor and forced/compulsory labor.

We provide snacks, tea, lunch options, and a free monthly product budget to all staff.

We have implemented a 360-degree review process for our staff, and we also formalized a feedback and complaint mechanism to address staff concerns and improve company practices. This feedback will be collected and evaluated annually.

Community

Our company is locally and independently owned. We are also committed to sourcing ingredients and supplies locally.

We include a statement in our job postings with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We track diversity of ownership among our suppliers; 40-49% of our purchases came from companies that are majority-owned by women or individuals from underrepresented populations.

Over 80% of our Cost of Goods Sold were purchased from suppliers in the United States.

40-59% of our company’s expenses (excluding labor) were spent with independent suppliers local to our headquarters.

We have a formal statement on the intended social/environmental impact of our company’s philanthropy – that can be found here

We track significant suppliers and independent contractors compliance with local laws and regulations, labor practices, and third-party certifications. We require independent contractors to complete an assessment that we designed annually.

50-74% of our non-labor expenses are purchased from independent suppliers.

We bank with a locally owned credit union.

Environment

Our business creates a positive outcome for the environment through supporting organic and local agriculture, waste and chemical reduction in manufacturing, and increasing consumer awareness of bee health.

In our facility, we’ve made energy efficiency improvements with our heating and lighting, water efficiency improvements utilizing water efficient appliances, and we have a waste reduction program that includes recycling and composting. We also have found a way to recycle all our plastic film.

We have a written policy encouraging environmentally preferred products and practices in employee virtual offices, we share resources with employees regarding environmental stewardship in home offices, and we share a list of environmentally-preferred vendors for office supplies.

We have a policy in place to ensure the safe disposal of e-waste and other hazardous materials.

100% of our electricity usage comes from renewable sources through our local utility.

We utilize automatic sleep modes and programmable thermostats to conserve electricity and energy in our facility. We also use low-flow faucets and toilets to decrease water use.

Over 30% of our Cost of Goods Sold were sourced within 200 miles of where the end product was used for our local customers.

For local deliveries, we utilize a carbon-neutral delivery service called LegWork.

We're also participating in an exciting pilot program with New Seasons Market in 2023, to determine the feasibility of reusing our glass jars. This pilot program is in partnership with Bold ReUse.

Customers

Our products support organizations that directly support underserved populations. In 2021, we started partnering with our online store customers to raise money for charitable organizations.

We have third party certifications – currently, we are 3rd Party GMP Certified through UL, and we’re a certified B-Corp.

We have customer feedback mechanisms in place, and we prioritize customer satisfaction. Product reviews are made available to the public on our website.

We value protecting our customer's privacy and data. All customer information is stored securely, and not shared with anyone. We only collect customer data for the purpose of processing sales transactions, and customers can choose to opt in to our e-mail newsletter.