Lewes Gourmet and Puzzles earn B Corp certification

Lewes Gourmet and Puzzles, owned by TCK Enterprises, are the first shops in Sussex County to become a Certified Benefit Corporation, joining the international ranks of purpose-led businesses that meet verified high standards of performance, transparency and accountability.

B Corps leverage their business to do good to help solve the world’s most challenging social and environmental problems.

The rigorous certification process measures a business’s performance in relation to its size in five impact areas: governance, workers, customers, community and the environment, to assure that high standards of social and environmental impact are achieved. Fewer than a third of businesses evaluated globally achieve certification.

“It’s not that you’ll necessarily feel a difference if you have been shopping with us for 30 years, but you can be assured that we have leveraged the support that our community has given us to be better businesses, stewards of the environment and community members. And this synergy is making a recognized difference and leads to continuous improvement,” said Andrea Spuck, who owns the stores with her husband Tim Southerst.

The B Lab evaluation process recognizes that not all businesses can leverage the resources of a Patagonia or Bombas, but any size business can have a more positive effect on its stakeholders. For Lewes Gourmet and Puzzles, this means they reuse the packaging materials received with deliveries, while encouraging their suppliers to use less packaging and more environmentally friendly types.

The stores purposely source kraft paper (unbleached or dyed) shopping bags that are made from the highest component of post-consumer recycled paper, and then use environmentally friendly dye for printing. Tot decrease unnecessary consumption, the stores’ team members will also ask at check out if customers need a bag, not if they want a bag.

When sourcing products and screening new suppliers, the owners constantly consider how products are made, of what and by whom. This means not stocking some things, while paying more to stock other products that are better suited to the cause. They also identify suppliers’ products that are destined for landfills and instead arrange purchase and delivery so food and other hard goods reach those in Sussex Country who need them most. Spuck estimates that they have saved at least 17,000 cans of soup and baked beans along with other products from being wasted. “We have a terrific team of part-time employees that make serving our community possible. So as soon as certain regulatory criteria are met, the businesses contribute an additional percentage of their annual salaries to their retirement account. We also pay staff to use days off to volunteer at nonprofits of their choice,” said Southerst.

Most Certified B Corps are small- to medium-sized businesses. Spuck recognizes that being a Certified B Corp is not for everyone. “In Delaware, any business can incorporate as a Benefit Corporation. You can still make doing good a part of your incorporation and governance structure, along with making money for your shareholders. The stores also became members of 1% for the Planet before becoming a Certified B Corp, whose members must devote 1% of their annual sales to qualifying non-profits each year.” Spuck and Southerst have worked to get local nonprofits qualified so they can keep their donations local, and they have been able to encourage their 1% stakeholders to also give locally.

Puzzles and Lewes Gourmet are required to recertify as a B Corp every three years, and Spuck hopes the synergies among their suppliers, other local businesses and the community will continue to make change for good happen in even broader ways by 2026.

“It's about doing what you can, where you can, when you can. If we all made one or two simple but significant changes toward bettering the situation within our local communities, then our collective efforts would literally help improve our world. So, we’re just focusing on our little but lovely corner of Lewes in Sussex County that is licked by a vast ocean that also flows to touch the rest of the world too,” said Southerst.

As of March 1, there were 8,000 B Corp Certified businesses across 96 countries and 162 industries.

For more information, go to LewesPuzzles.com and LewesGourmet.com.