Ox Verte is a mission-based business. It is a certified B Corporation, which means it balances purpose and profit and is legally required to consider the impact of its decisions on its workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. If the company were to pivot, it could not just be about self-preservation.
The mission provided clarity and a strategic framework for thinking through how to move forward. You wouldn't usually think of office workers as a vulnerable population. However, during the pandemic, their medical history or age might put them at risk. Working in isolation could also put their mental health at risk. So, too, could the additional responsibilities of homeschooling children.
By partnering with someone who was running GoFundMe campaigns, Ox Verte became one of the companies providing free, healthy food to frontline workers at hospitals. The company also offers prepared meals, snacks, and groceries the same workers they provided food to in offices but delivered to their homes. Ox Verte reached out to its customers and other people the team knew. Many now order food through it and have Ox Verte delivered at home.
"If there is one silver lining to the pandemic, it is a greater appreciation of delivery people," said Gould. For so long, they have been unappreciated and invisible. This crisis has made us appreciate them. They are not people who should be packaged into what you buy as a"free service." Ox Verte delivery people gravitate to the company because the mission resonates with them. They either care about health or sustainability.