Malouf Leading Business for Good
The sleep company becomes the first Benefit Corporation in Cache Valley and the largest in Utah.
Putting People First is a value Sam and Kacie Malouf made sure to bake into their company from the beginning back when it was only a two-person operation. It’s establishing these types of values that ultimately led them to not only build a successful business, but create sustainable, quality products for the consumer, empower and genuinely care about their employees, and going beyond to fight human trafficking and create safer communities through the efforts of the Malouf Foundation.
So why become a Benefit Corporation (B Corp) when the company already does so much good for the customer, employee, and community?
Benefit Corporations (B Corps) rethink the traditional corporate structure where the company is accountable to governing boards and stakeholders. This new type of organization sees the community at large as its stakeholder, from supplier to customer, to the communities in which the company and its employees work and thrive. Baked into the DNA of the company moving forward is an obligation to do good by people, and that includes more than the end consumer.
“This certification process has helped us take a deeper look at how we impact the environment, our employees, our business partners, and our community. We had great systems in place for employee happiness, and our community impact has always been a top priority with the Malouf Foundation, but we realized we could improve in other areas.” Said Malouf, “A team of employees founded a council to formalize our sustainability goals and track our impact. We’re excited to see what their analysis and efforts evolve into. Mostly, going through the certification process helped us visualize all the ways we can increase “the good” we do, and what that uniquely means for us.”
Companies have engaged in philanthropic efforts for decades, but according to founder and CEO, the B Corp designation creates a clear line in the sand as to where the company stands as it relates to sustainable and ethical business practices.
“Joining this community helps keep us accountable.”
- Sam Malouf, CEO & Founder
In a changing marketplace where the consumer has so many more options as well as knowledge right at their fingertips, people want to know who is producing and selling them their products. It’s also not enough to take a scorched earth approach to business, making the most amount of profit at all cost. A more conscious form of capitalism recognizes that companies and their products have long term impacts on their customers, employees, community, and the planet and the B Corp mantle is a way for an organization to formally own that responsibility.
“As a company, we were already doing a lot of these things and trying to build on our sustainable practices, but this process has helped us look at the overall good we can do. Taking this natural next step toward a B Corp made sense for us. We hope to learn a lot from this community of likeminded companies and to keep increasing our positive impact.” Said Malouf, “We also recognized this is a way for us to go further in connecting with consumers. It’s inspiring to see how many people are using their purchasing power to drive change. We respect that! We
wanted to be at the forefront of this movement for good business.”
Surprisingly enough, in a state with a lot of recent entrepreneurial and business success and recognition, Utah is only home to five B Corps, with the addition of Malouf. According to Sam, Malouf is now the largest B Corp in the state and the first of its kind in Cache Valley, Utah. In that context, Malouf is leading the way by making this formal and public commitment to do business differently.
Every day, good people with values are shifting the narrative and moving companies and ultimately our communities towards a better way of doing business. I’m just proud that some of those people are in my backyard and in our state.
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Read the full Malouf press release here.
