Grape growers and wine producers have long sought certifications testifying to their sustainable farming methods or their commitment to protecting the environment. They have taken great satisfaction in displaying their organic or biodynamic credentials. No less would be expected in a field that prides itself on offering a natural, agricultural product.

Far less attention has been paid over the years to how wineries treat the people who are doing the actual farming and production work. It’s been an enormous oversight, particularly as agricultural workers continue to be targets for exploitation.

Just last year four workers died in Champagne, France, while harvesting grapes in extreme heat. French prosecutors in 2023 also opened human trafficking investigations into companies supplying seasonal workers. Similar scandals have occurred over the years.

Recognizing the long history of exploitation, and perhaps wanting to codify their social values along with their environmental and agricultural practices, more wine producers have sought certification demonstrating their commitment to what many call social sustainability.

These certifications can come from local wine- oriented organizations, like Napa Green in California, LIVE in the Pacific Northwest, Equalitas in Italy and Haute Valeur Environnementale in France. The Regenerative Organic certification has a social fairness requirement in addition to agricultural standards. And more wineries are seeking B Corp certification from B Lab, which promotes the notion that companies benefit by working for both profits and the social good.

Roughly 100 wineries worldwide have B Corp certification. They include significant names like Spottswoode in Napa Valley, Felton Road in New Zealand, Bollinger and Charles Heidsieck in Champagne, Sokol Blosser, Stoller, Soter and Chehalem in Oregon, Rathfinny and Ridgeview in England, Avignonesi in Tuscany and more.

Among the most recent to receive certification is Domaines Barons de Rothschild, the parent company of Château Lafite Rothschild and other estates in Bordeaux, Chablis, Languedoc, Chile, Argentina and China.

Why would a company as prestigious as Lafite Rothschild seek B Corp status?

“When nature is the core of the product you produce, you have to have extremely strong convictions,” said Saskia de Rothschild, who succeeded her father, Éric de Rothschild, as chair of the domaines in 2018 and CEO of Lafite in 2021. “How can we put that at the core of what we are doing? B Corp seemed the most complete and exhaustive commitment to our environmental and social goals.”

Achieving B Corp status is not easy. It requires a comprehensive analysis of how a company does business, with different standards for different industries. Wine producers are assessed for how they manage water and waste, for how harmonious their agricultural practices are with their particular environment, whether they promote biodiversity and how they manage their workforces.

That means analyzing the gender and racial diversity of a company’s employees as well as its income diversity. The average pay ratio of CEO-to-worker among S&P 500 companies was 272-1 in 2022, according to the AFL-CIO. Among B Corp companies, B Lab says, it’s 6-1. Companies are also asked about their career-development programs, and how their organization relates to their local communities.

“We set standards, and companies must meet minimum thresholds,” said Sarah Schwimmer, interim co-lead executive of B Lab, which began certifying companies in 2007. “They complete the assessment. We have analysts who verify. They ask for documentation and they may do site visits. You’ve got to really want it.”

Companies are given points in each area, and must achieve a minimum of 80 points to be awarded B Corp status. B Lab points out where companies can improve, and recommends steps toward making those changes. And companies are regularly reassessed.

“It really is like going to your doctor,” said Alex Sokol Blosser, the second-generation president of Sokol Blosser in the Willamette Valley. “Your doctor says, ‘You need to exercise more, and here are your options.’ B Corp says, ‘You need to think about your team and your community in how you run your business, and here’s how you can do that.’ ”

For Beth Novak, CEO of Spottswoode in Napa Valley, B Corp status has been eye-opening.

“The process itself is amazing,” she said. “You learn a lot. All sorts of things arise as you’re answering questions, and, ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.’ ”

She said the only drawback is that not enough people know about B Corp or what it stands for.

“We think there’s a way to operate that’s important,” she said. “Our whole ethic is around the natural environment and taking care of our people. The whole Milton Friedman thing about maximizing shareholder value has not led us to a good place at all in terms of natural environment and workplace.”

Inevitably, when companies promote values that at one time might have seemed idealistic but have now become political issues, like diversity, equity and inclusivity, antiracism, social justice and taking care of one’s environment — all at the heart of B Lab’s ethos — resistance might be expected.

Rainer Seitz, an associate professor of management at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon, pointed to two recent examples, Target and Bud Light, which have both dialed back support for Pride Month after conservative backlash to their position on LGBTQ+ issues.

“Companies have to ask themselves whether their stance is counterproductive,” Seitz said. “Is it central to who we are and to our values? What is the potential cost of doing this? Or not doing this? It is a brave stance to seek out and take on standards. It’s not for everyone.”

The bottom line, he said, is whether it makes good business sense. Apparently, it often does.

“Organizational justice — if you treat people well and fairly at work — lots of good things happen,” Seitz said. “There’s less turnover and higher productivity.”

Akilah Cadet, an organizational and management consultant and author of “White Supremacy Is All Around,” works with Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum, which supports initiatives to transform the wine industry. She applauds the accountability that certification requires but warns that, depending on the regulatory body, these certifications can often be performative. She rues the decline in DEI efforts that has come, she said, as people in charge want to feel comfortable again.

“Being comfortable typically excludes women, BIPOC, LGBTQ and disabled communities not only as consumers but as experts or contributors to the wine industry,” Cadet said. “It is time the wine industry moves away from fads and trends and realizes the future of wine is just as diverse as the grapes.”