Rumi Spice is excited to receive the 2021 B Lab’s Best For The World 2021: Community award. As a certified B Corporation, we’ve committed our business practices to not only bring the highest quality ingredients and products to our consumers, but also to social and environmental ethics.
What is a B Corporation?
According to B Lab, B Corporations “are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy,” adding an extra level of mission to their brand and business tactics B Corporations operate as a worldwide force with the intention of promoting a purpose-driven global economy. That means supporting our communities through mindful business, making a positive environmental impact, supporting local workers and their economies, and delivering important critical services to customers.
How Is Rumi Spice Making An Impact In Afghanistan?
Mission has been at the core of Rumi since day one. Our goal is to cultivate peace in Afghanistan and connect Afghan workers to the global economy through ethical business practices. We work with local farmers to create opportunities in cultivating spices, instead of participating in the drug trade. By empowering these farmers, we create jobs for women in their communities as well as fuel the local economies, over 80% of which are reliant on the gains of rural agriculture.
As a brand, we’re bringing our high-quality, ethically sourced spices to your shelf, allowing our customers to partake in our mission of engaging with and empowering local Afghan artisans, laborers and their overall economy.
Learn More About Our Work As A Certified B Corporation
Thank you to B Lab for our third nomination for Best For The World! We are honored to serve communities in Afghanistan and to continue to use spice as a force for good.
Learn more about Rumi's mission and our nomination for Best For the World award by B Lab in the press release below.
Rumi Spice Named to B Lab’s Best For The World™ 2021: Community List
Certified B Corporation Honored For Continued Work in Using Spice as a Force for Good in Afghanistan
Chicago, Illinois (July 21, 2021) - Rumi Spice, a spice company ethically sourcing flavorful and socially responsible spices from Afghanistan, has recently been recognized as Best For The World™ 2021 by B Lab for the company’s community impact. Rumi Spice first received its B Corp status in 2016 and this is the company’s second time achieving this distinction. As only the top 5% of B Corps receive this honor, Rumi Spice is proud to be identified for their continued work in furthering the agricultural and economic development of Afghanistan.
Since the company’s founding in 2015, Rumi Spice has worked to empower Afghan farmers, support Afghan women through direct wages, and reinvest in the country’s agricultural and manufacturing infrastructure.
- Rumi Spice is the largest private contractor of women in Afghanistan, having provided employment to more than 4,000 women involved in the hand-harvested production process throughout the country. These direct wages of 15-20% more than other jobs help uplift their families and local communities.
- By sourcing directly from farmers & foragers in Afghanistan, Rumi Spice drives agricultural economic development. With over 80% of the Afghan population reliant on the rural agricultural economy, the success of the spice industry can touch every member of a village in addition to the farmers and women providing direct labor.
- Rumi Spice provides technical, quality control and safety training to Afghan farmers that ensures the use of best practices during cultivation. Rumi Spice has also provided processing, safety and hygiene equipment to their network of Afghan farmers.
Certified B Corporations are companies who have publicly committed to balancing purpose and profit1. Each year, the top-performing B Corps creating the greatest impact through their business are recognized and named to B Labs Best For The World™ list. These organizations have achieved the highest verified scores in the five impact areas evaluated on the B Impact Assessment (BIA) for their corresponding size group: Community, Customers, Environment, Governance, Workers. The companies recognized for their community impact, like Rumi Spice, indicate companies contributing to the economic and social wellbeing of the communities in which they operate. Through their exemplary practices and policies directed at community impact, they're building a shared and sustainable prosperity for all1. Rumi Spice was one of thirty-four American organizations with one to nine employees to receive this honor within the community impact area.
“It is an honor for Rumi Spice to be named Best For The World™ by B Labs,” said Patti Doyle, CEO of Rumi Spice. “Mission and purpose guide all of Rumi Spice’s work and we are proud to support the Afghan economy and community, especially the farmers and women who work with our spices.”
About Rumi Spice
Since 2015, Rumi Spice has been on a mission to use spice as a force for good. Rumi Spice was born out of its founders’ desire to cultivate peace in Afghanistan by creating demand for the country’s agricultural products. The company started by exporting and selling high-quality, sustainably sourced saffron to the US market in order to connect Afghan farmers with the global market and unlock economic potential for them.
Additionally, the company has contracted with thousands of women in Herat, Afghanistan to support the hand-harvested production process. Committed to empowering Afghan women and bolstering the country’s economy, Rumi Spice has reinvested back into the country’s agricultural and manufacturing infrastructure.
Today, Rumi Spice exports whole spices from Afghanistan that it sells via retail, food service, wholesale, and direct-to-consumers. What began as a single product, Rumi Spice has expanded to bring even more premium, flavorful spices to consumers. Today, the company sells twelve different spices and spice blends to add flavor to the dishes of both home and professional chefs. Rumi Spice is also proud to be a certified B Corporation.
This press release was originally issued on July 14th, 2021.
Learn more about the Best For The World award here.
Learn more about Rumi’s mission in Afghanistan here.
Shop Rumi Spice Afghan saffron and spices here.
