For a long time, profit has been the top priority for most businesses. Along the way, the environment often paid the price, and workers' rights were too often pushed aside. So a question began to emerge: "Can a business that makes money also do good for people and the planet?"
That question sparked the B Corp Movement, which began in the US in 2006. Its goal is to grow the number of businesses that turn a profit while taking responsibility for their impact on people and the planet. Companies that want to join have to pass a rigorous assessment and verification process to prove they actually operate this way. Only those that meet the standard earn B Corp Certification. In September 2026, AROMATICA earned B Corp Certification and joined the global B Corp community.
The B Corp movement celebrates its 20th anniversary this year ©B Lab Korea
Choosing every ingredient that touches your skin with care. Thinking about where your empty containers end up. Putting the people we work and live alongside first. This certification means the principles AROMATICA has long upheld have now been verified against B Corp's global standard. Let's take a look at what B Corp evaluates in a company, and which of AROMATICA's choices earned recognition.
What Does B Corp Certification Evaluate?
B Corp Certification is run by B Lab, a nonprofit organization. B Lab believes businesses should be run with more than shareholders in mind: workers, communities, customers, and the environment matter too. In other words, B Corp Certification is for companies that balance financial performance with social and environmental impact, and use business as a force for good.
That's why B Corp looks at the whole company, not just a single product. Using B Lab's B Impact Assessment (BIA), it asks how a company actually operates across five impact areas.
Answers alone don't earn certification. Everything a company submits must be carefully verified against its actual operating records, and the company has to build its commitment to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, into its governance structure. Even after certification, companies are reassessed regularly and have to show they keep improving.
As of October 2026, 11,179 companies in 105 countries have met these standards and earned B Corp Certification. Of these, 37 are Korean companies.
What Changes Have B Corps Made?
The global B Corp community, working together for people and the planet ©B Lab
B Corps have each found ways to serve people and the planet through their own businesses. You can see it in an outdoor jacket, a pint of ice cream, even a chocolate bar. So what problems did three familiar brands take on, and how did they tackle them?
Patagonia: 1% for the Planet
American outdoor brand Patagonia earned B Corp Certification in 2011. In 2002, founder Yvon Chouinard co-founded 1% for the Planet, a commitment to give 1% of annual sales to environmental groups. In 2022, the company declared that "Earth is now our only shareholder," putting environmental protection at the center of its business.
Ben & Jerry's: Ice Cream That Grows with Its Farmers
American ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's earned B Corp Certification in 2012. In 2005, it became the world's first ice cream company to use Fairtrade-certified ingredients, and today it sources five ingredients on Fairtrade terms: sugar, cocoa, vanilla, coffee, and bananas. Fairtrade is a trading model that guarantees producers a fair price, so the company has built a supply chain that grows together with the farmers behind its ingredients.
Tony's Chocolonely: Working to End Child Labor on Cocoa Farms
Dutch chocolate brand Tony's Chocolonely has held B Corp Certification since 2013. In Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, about 1.56 million children are caught in child labor on cocoa farms, because their parents can't earn a living income from selling cocoa. Tony's takes on this problem by paying farmers a higher price, tracing where its cocoa comes from, and building long-term partnerships with farmers.
What Standards Has AROMATICA Upheld?
AROMATICA is an aromatherapy brand founded on a clear philosophy: leave out synthetic fragrances and use safe, effective natural and organic ingredients. Our first question was how the ingredients in the products we use every day affect people and the environment. From the product development stage, we've managed the safety of our ingredients and products through our own ingredient standards and a Watch List.
That thinking didn't stop at ingredients. Step by step, we extended our standard for what's good for people and the environment to the energy that powers our factory, the containers left behind after use, and the people we work and live alongside.
The B Corp review confirmed these choices with our actual operating records. After we submitted our assessment, all five impact areas were verified, and three stood out as strengths: our environmental management system and energy savings, employee participation in community volunteering, and employee benefits. Let's look at each one.
Make, Refill, Return: AROMATICA's Circular Approach
In the environment area, our ongoing focus has been making sure resources aren't wasted and the planet isn't harmed, from the moment a product is made until long after it's used up.
Making It: An Energy-Saving Factory and Recycled Packaging
AROMATICA products are made at our smart factory in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, Korea. 315 solar panels on the factory roof supply about 24% of its total electricity from renewable energy, and the factory also uses recycled water. In 2024, we became the first Korean beauty brand to have its targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), committing to cut our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions (from our direct operations and purchased electricity) 42% by 2030 from a 2023 baseline. In 2025, our emissions were about 19.6% below that baseline.
Solar panels on the roof of AROMATICA's factory in Osan, Korea
We apply the same standard to our packaging. AROMATICA has brought PCR containers made from 100% recycled PET to market. PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) material is made from plastic that consumers have already used and thrown away. Instead of new plastic, it gives used resources a second life.
Using It: Bring Your Bottle, Just Refill
Once a container is in our customers' hands, we want it to be used for as long as possible. That's why AROMATICA runs refill stations and Refill Day (Korea Only) in Korea. On Refill Day, the 21st of every month, bring a clean, dry empty cosmetics container from any brand to our AROMATICA Sinsa store in Seoul, and refill it with that month's featured product for free. During Refill Day week, refill products are also on sale on our Korean online store from the 21st to the 23rd.
It doesn't have to be the 21st, either. AROMATICA Sinsa runs a refill station year-round. Bring an empty bottle and refill everything from our Rosemary Scalp Scaling Shampoo to our Vitalizing Rosemary Concentrated Essence at up to 90% off. It's a way to give your container one more use while getting your favorites at a better price.
After It's Used Up: Turning Empties into New Containers with Join the Circle
Eventually, every container reaches the end of its life. That's where Join the Circle (Korea Only) comes in. The campaign started in 2020 as an empty-container collection program, and in 2021 it grew into a recycling campaign run with zero-waste shops, local governments, and schools. The clear PET we collect becomes PCR material, and glass bottles are melted down and reborn as new AROMATICA containers. As of September 2026, we've collected about 22.5 tons of clear PET, roughly equal to 1.5 million 500ml (16.9 oz) water bottles.
Our customers are part of this cycle, too. AROMATICA regularly shares how to properly sort, reuse, and recycle cosmetics containers, so customers can keep taking part even after a product is used up.
Request a Container Pickup with Join the Circle (Korea Only)
Giving Back to Our Community: Mom-pyeonhan Therapy and Project Soil
AROMATICA's community work starts with what we do best: aromatherapy. Our signature program is Mom-pyeonhan Therapy, which offers a moment of rest to people who spend so much time caring for others that they rarely have time to care for themselves. The word "mom" in its Korean name carries two meanings: the English "mom," and "maeum," the Korean word for heart and mind. Together, the name means "peace of mind."
Launched in September 2023, the program began at shelters for single mothers and survivors of domestic violence. In 2026, it expanded to blood cancer patients and nurses at a university hospital. Rather than simply donating products, our employees visit in person to blend essential oils with participants and share simple massage techniques. Through August 2026, 80 employees have volunteered across 12 sessions, and 86 participants have joined us.
If Mom-pyeonhan Therapy cares for people's hearts and minds, Project Soil cares for the ground where plants grow. Every AROMATICA product starts with plants, and healthy plants need healthy soil. Launched in 2025, Project Soil removes invasive species that disrupt local ecosystems so native plants can take root again.
In its first year, we pulled out Japanese hop by hand near organic farmland in Goesan, North Chungcheong Province. This invasive vine was threatening native plants and organic crops alike. Where the vines were cleared, we scattered seed balls with native plants like bush clover, and kept track of changes in the soil and vegetation to spot early signs of recovery. This year, we continued our work near Malgeumteo Park along Osancheon Stream. Through September 2026, 149 people have cleared vines across 7 sessions. Instead of throwing the cleared vines away, we're researching ways to turn them into products as a new resource.
Beyond these two programs, AROMATICA ran 13 social impact programs in 2025 alone, partnering with 18 organizations that support single-parent families, communities vulnerable to climate change, people with disabilities, and environmental causes. Behind it all is a culture where every employee volunteers at least once a year.
Caring for Our People: Inclusive Hiring
B Corp also looks closely at how a company treats the people who work there, from pay, benefits, and working conditions to growth opportunities, diversity, and inclusion. In this assessment, AROMATICA was recognized for its strength in employee benefits.
One example is inclusive hiring. AROMATICA hires employees with disabilities as full-time staff, with the same benefits as everyone else.
Since 2025, artist Kim Do-young, who has autism spectrum disorder, has been a full-time member of our Brand Design Team. She has long expressed herself and connected with the world through painting rather than words. At a time when few companies hire people with disabilities as full-time employees, her father expressed his gratitude to AROMATICA for welcoming his daughter as a member of society.
Artist Kim Do-young of AROMATICA's Brand Design Team
Kim Do-young's artwork on display at AROMATICA headquarters
At AROMATICA, we didn't want to treat disability as something we simply "support." We see it as part of how we "live together." We may do things differently, but we all share the same world, and that belief is at the heart of this choice. From ingredients and packaging to our community and the colleagues we work alongside, the choices AROMATICA has made in each area all led to this B Corp Certification.
What This Certification Means to Us
B Corp Certification isn't easy to earn. A company's entire way of operating is verified point by point, and only companies that clear the bar are certified.
That's why this certification means so much to us. It means the principles we've long upheld, from how we choose ingredients to what happens to empty containers and how we treat the people around us, have been recognized by a respected global standard. AROMATICA now joins a worldwide community of B Corps who share the same questions, working together to create positive change.
The B Corp Declaration of Interdependence, signed by AROMATICA: our promise to share responsibility for people, the planet, and future generations
This certification reflects the work AROMATICA has done so far, and it's also a reason to keep doing better. We'll keep extending our responsibility from how we develop and make our products to what happens after they're used, and keep making choices for people, the planet, and future generations.
