Apply for Ethical Accreditation

The Good Shopping Guide provides Ethical Accreditation on a Company, Brand or Product level.

You can apply for Ethical Accreditation by filling in an online form with your company details and we will do the rest.

Ethical Accreditation certifies the Company, Brand or Product in question has reached our benchmark standard in our overall analysis of its corporate social responsibility record – a highly respected mark of independent endorsement which can benefit consumer sales, trade sales, employee relations, public relations as well as company and brand value.

The application process takes 6-8 weeks and involves our research teams analysing each applicant company, brand or product’s record on up to 15 specific criteria under the 3 general headings of Environment, Animals and People, in accordance with the relevant criteria for that category. We search for criticisms within several thousand documents from NGOs, Campaign Groups and Court Reports – and we consider primary sources such as your brand’s environmental impact report and policies.

About our different Awards

The difference between ‘Company’, ‘Brand’ and ‘Product’ Ethical Accreditation

Ethical Accreditation for your Company

Ethical Accreditation from The Good Shopping Guide is a clear, independent and trusted sign of a company’s ethical position and credentials. In assessing an application at a company level, we will research all the activities of that company, its subsidiaries and parent company against a set of up to 15 different ethical criteria. Success in this category means that our GOOD SHOPPING GUIDE ETHICAL MARK can be used at company level and also to brands and products owned by the company. Additionally, you will be publicly listed and promoted in The Good Shopping Guide as a recommended Company with Ethical Accreditation.

Ethical Accreditation for your Brand

As consumers and trade buyers look for ethical and sustainable characteristics in the brands they purchase, so our Ethical Accreditation gives them the ability to clearly communicate your brand’s ethical policies, impact and persona.

There are many reasons why you may not qualify for Ethical Accreditation at whole Company level. However, you may have launched or acquired a brand that is ethical and sustainable, and it is important that this is communicated to the public and trade. In awarding Ethical Accreditation to a brand, we research and measure the ethical and sustainable practices of a particular brand against our criteria.

We will also look at the activities of the parent or holding company and we will factor this in to your overall score. However, we do believe in encouraging brands to take steps to become more ethical and sustainable, so by awarding Ethical Accreditation to a specific brand, we aim to show the public which ones are the most ethical. Success in this category means that the brand in
question can display our GOOD SHOPPING GUIDE ETHICAL logo to the brand and the products under that brand.

Ethical Accreditation for your Product

Customers and trade buyers are faced with many purchase decisions and it can sometimes be difficult for them to identify ethical products. Ethical Accreditation at a product level, provides independent endorsement, clarity and visible ethical credentials to customers when they assess a product. We research the ethical practices in producing and distributing a particular product and score this accordingly. In analysing a product for Ethical Accreditation, we will also look at the activities of the brand and/or the company ownership to produce the overall score. However, we believe that products that clearly demonstrate ethical practices should be visible to the public by a trusted source so that they can make an informed purchase decision. Success in this category means that our GOOD SHOPPING GUIDE ETHICAL logo can be added to product labels and marketing materials.

The annual accreditation fee is tiered and based on annual revenue. The fee includes our in-depth research and scoring, highlighted in our ethical benchmark rankings table on The Good Shopping Guide (where applicable), and a license to use our ethical trademark for the top-performing companies, brands and products.

A member of our team will be happy to discuss this with you in more detail – please call 0333 011 3320 or send us a message over on our Get In Touch page.

To apply for Ethical Accreditation, simply fill out The Good Shopping Guide‘s online Form with your company’s details and we will do the rest.

Find the Free Initial Ethical & Sustainability Assessment here.