Ocean Beer Joins the Profit for Good coalition!
It's official: Ocean Born Foundation and Ocean Beer are members of the Profit for Good coalition! It felt like finally meeting our long-lost family.
Meeting the Profit for Good coalition was more than a breath of fresh air. It was the confirmation that we have a family out there, driven by our same common thread & motivation: we are born to grow into resilient long-term funding mechanisms to support causes that really need the support — and we wouldn't have it any other way.
It was a bit of a light-bulb moment: we're not alone out there, there is hope, in fact: there is SO MUCH HOPE when you meet all these organisations!
How refreshing to also realise that we are beyond tiny in comparison to other members of this coalition — how inspiring to see them thrive, to lead the way, happy and healthy, leaving behind a trail of positivity for others to draw inspiration from, follow in their footsteps and bloom away, each in their own unique way.
Why did this feel like such a breath of fresh air? Because we regularly have calls with all kinds of people from the business world — owners, investors, shareholders. To many of them, the concept of donating 100% of our profits back to ocean conservation is slightly more than curious. They find it noble and innovative — but secretly, probably, excessively generous, really. *"You're saying you do all this work, and then… you donate the money away?"*
And we're secretly thinking: *"Wait, but how do these people find the energy to get up and go to work in the morning driven by the sole purpose of generating as much cash as possible? And how do they motivate their teams?"*
The gap we're all working on
Global companies make roughly $10 trillion in profit every year. Total charitable giving, from everyone, everywhere, adds up to about $71 billion — less than 1%.
And less than 1% of global philanthropy goes to ocean conservation. So the ocean gets 1% of 1%. This is why some brilliant organisations like 10% for the Ocean are advocating for ocean philanthropy to reach 10% of global giving. And Profit for Good is working at encouraging more businesses to give at least a part of their profits.
Profit for Good is an alliance of companies that don't treat giving as a marketing line, but as the reason the business exists, as a source of energy for their teams to wake up in the morning and go over and beyond. It was co-founded by philosopher Peter Singer and Julia van Boven as the first spin-off of The School for Moral Ambition, the foundation started by historian Rutger Bregman and friends, with Rituals and Who Gives A Crap as founding partners.
The entry bar is simple: commit at least 10% of your annual net profits to charitable causes, choose those causes on evidence, and — the part we love most — lock the commitment into how the company is owned and governed, so it can't quietly disappear when management changes.
So who are the Profit for Good members?
Who Gives A Crap — co-founders of Profit for Good, a sustainable toilet paper company. They are, quite simply, too cool for school. It started with a founder livestreaming himself on a toilet until the first production run was funded. Their toilet paper has now donated more than AU$20 million (50% of profits) to bring safe water and sanitation to people who lack it. Frickin' legends.
Newman's Own (US) — the pioneers, way ahead of their time, founded by Paul Newman. Paul Newman wanted a long-term funding mechanism for kids' charities and decided to focus on salad dressings — which grew into a whole food company that has given away 100% of profits, silently generating more than $600 million since 1982! The company that proved this whole model decades ago — an influential success that most definitely inspired the founding of Ocean Born Foundation.
Humanitix (Australia) — they wanted to fund education for disadvantaged kids, so they built a ticketing platform and handed the keys to a charity. The company literally cannot stop giving, because the charity owns it: 100% of profits, US$13.5M+ so far.
Climax Change (Netherlands) — yes, a condom brand, and a brilliant one. The founders were looking for a way to raise funds for ecosystem restoration and asked themselves: what product is commonly used, genuinely necessary & good vibes — something that brings pleasure — and could be designed sustainably? Today 100% of their profits fund regreening and coral reef restoration. How cool is that?
AFAS Software (Netherlands) — the founders' families donated 30% of the company's shares — roughly €600 million in value — to charitable foundations, on top of €65M+ already given.
Postcode Loterij (Netherlands) — the charity lottery that has channelled a scarcely believable €8.4 billion to good causes since 1989.
Aarong (Bangladesh) — BRAC's fair-trade fashion enterprise: 50% of surplus into health, education and poverty programmes, built on 87,000 artisans — around 85% of them women.
EARTH Water (Netherlands) — sells water to fund water access: 100% of net profit, €2 million+ donated to drinking-water projects in Africa and Asia.
Oma's Soep (Netherlands) — founded to fight loneliness among the elderly — soup is the vehicle. At least 50% of profits go to their foundation, and the elderly help make the soup.
Boas (Netherlands) — founded to fund lifesaving charities; the vintage jeans came second. 90% of profits go to charities like the Against Malaria Foundation.
Give Industries (Australia) — an electrical contractor giving 100% of profits to effective charities.
Impact Makers (US) — a consulting firm that gifted its equity to community foundations; 100% of net profits to the community.
Albion East (UK) — a research and strategy agency giving at least 10% of profits to rigorously vetted, high-impact charities.
Eleos Compliance (UK) — product-certification engineers: 10% of net profits to charity, plus a tree planted for every application they process — 8,700+ trees so far.
Secrid (Netherlands) — the Dutch wallet-makers, funding "producing better instead of more" through their Impact Fund.
Bryant Research (UK) — a research consultancy putting its profits behind animal welfare and better food systems.
Mindthrv Asia (Singapore) — a consultancy wiring purpose and wellbeing into how organisations are run.
For several of these companies, giving is written into the ownership: Humanitix is owned by a charity. Newman's Own is owned by its foundation. AFAS's founders gave away shares. And Ocean Beer is owned by Ocean Born Foundation — no shareholders, no dividends, nowhere else for the money to go.
As the Profit for Good manifesto puts it, the goal isn't to overthrow capitalism. It's to point to its enormous engine & potential to improve the quality of life on earth.
Why this coalition resonates so much with us
Two of us in the team are marine biologists. In our own separate bubbles, we had the same realisation: so many brilliantly effective ocean conservation organisations are chronically & critically underfunded, so the best way to help was to bring new, resilient, growing, long-term funding to their doorstep. Which is exactly what the initial founders of Ocean Born Foundation, Carolina Manhusen and Martin Schwab, had in mind — inspired by brands like Newman's Own.
So that's what we do: every bottle of Ocean Beer sends 100% of profits back to ocean conservation projects — over €500,000 donated to 35 marine protection and restoration projects since 2021. Half the profits fund marine protected areas in the world's richest and most threatened reef ecosystems (eg: every 33cl bottle funding 210 m² of protected ocean for a full year, independently certified); the other half funds local ocean conservation projects in the country where the beer is brewed and enjoyed.
Being accepted into this alliance is a proud moment for our small team. Thank you Peter Singer, Julia van Boven, Dirk Kranendijk, and the whole Profit for Good crew for the warm welcome.
How can you help if you're reading this?
The purpose is really to celebrate the Profit for Good coalition — and above all, its members. These organisations deserve the full spotlight: please go check them out, buy from them, work with them, partner with them, support them. We need them to succeed & grow — and, more importantly, to keep inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs, inspiring as many as possible to adopt a better way to do business.
Because here's what we see from the inside: giving back doesn't shrink your business, it's the opposite. People love brands that stand for something, authentically, genuinely, trustworthily. Purpose brings customers & happy staff, which brings growth, and growth means you can pay your team well AND do a lot of good with profits generated.
Check them out: profitforgood.com. And if you know a business interested in adopting this approach, please contact us — our door is always open for a chat!