Innovation

Brewery Vivant, only brews their beer in aluminum cans, not only because it creates a better tasting beer, but also because aluminum can be completely recyclable. Brewery Vivant was also the first brewery in the United States to become a LEED certified brewery. The roofs of their buildings are fitted with solar panels to help the firm achieve their goal of having 10% of their energy consumption come from their own completely renewable energy generation. They also are working on having all their food come from within 250 miles of the business.

Inspiration

Jason Spaulding was a co-founder of New Holland Brewery in 1996, and worked there until 2005. Kris Spaulding, his wife and Co-Owner, worked at Herman Miller in their sustainability department. Out of those two backgrounds the idea of Brewery Vivant started to take shape.

Then they took a trip to Southern Belgium and Northern France, which sealed the deal on focusing on beer styles from that region. That wasn't all they took out of that trip. They noticed how each brewer they visited played a very strong role in making their community stronger and better off. They didn't just want to be business owners, they wanted to do good and improve their community. They came back from that trip ready to get the idea of Brewery Vivant rolling.

Overall impact

Brewery Vivant has a created a positive overall impact on the local community. Located in Grand Rapids Michigan, Beer City USA, Brewery Vivant sets a notable example for other breweries in the area, of how to be profitable while still making a positive contribution to the community, and becoming a formidable microbrewer in Michigan. They have a positive impact on the environment, while helping others increase their business sustainability as this is important to the people of Western Michigan and is a positive externality.

Here are some of their quantifiable outcomes so far.

• They have donated 1% of their sales to charity.
• They have 248.5 hours of employee volunteer hours annually, with their 16 employees. That is over 15 hours per employee.
• They are currently at 6.5% on-site renewable energy, closing in on their 10% goal.
• They reduced their carbon footprint (co2e) annually from 638.7 in 2015 to 609.2 in 2016.
• Their B Corp. score was originally 86, and now is 110, compared to the average median score of 55.

Business benefit

One of the main business benefits from their focus on sustainability is the sense of pride that their employees have in the business which in turn leads to deeper engagement from them. That creates less turnover and an easier time recruiting new talent.

Social and environmental benefit

Brewery Vivant invests heavily in west Michigan. By doing this they not only help the community, but they help themselves by building up the community around them. They support and help assist other local business with their sustainable business plans, and serve on many boards in the community. Brewery Vivant hopes they are a positive role model as a B Corporation, encouraging other breweries to follow by their example.

The brewery's employees are also community minded. Already in 2017, employees have volunteered 250 hours. Civically engaged employees creates a double win situation - the community benefits and local residents become aware of Brewery Vivant when they see employees helping in the community.

One of their goals is to have all their food come within 250 miles of their operation; this is important to people in the area as there is a focus on locally grown food. While most other large companies would rather source food based solely on price, Brewery Vivant believes their target market would rather patronize their business where they will be spending money on goods that will help their local community.

Finally, one of Brewery Vivant's main goals is working toward zero waste to the landfill. Doing so will reduce the size of their carbon footprint, and create a long term sustainable business model for future generations.

Interview

Kris Spaulding, Co-Owner