The Good Kiind Wants Lunches for All Children

Canadian Company Models a Better Kind of Business

Courtney Stewart, Chief Lunch Officer at The Good Kiind.

This article is one in a series about business leaders in the Level program, now in its third year. Through the Level program, B Lab U.S. & Canada aims to support and partner with business leaders who identify as women of color to amplify their economic reach and community impact.

When Courtney Stewart sent her eldest daughter to elementary school for the first time, they had a recurring problem: leaky lunchboxes. Stewart had led a plastic-free home, especially in the kitchen. Her daughter was already using a stainless-steel, eco-friendly lunchbox, but it wasn’t functional and didn’t allow them to put the foods they wanted in it. So Stewart, who already operated NOMI+SIBS — which created personalized and removable name labels for kids’ bottles, sippy cups, and larger water bottles — pivoted to create The Good Kiind lunchbox.

Her team connected with a manufacturer to provide an interior removable silicone seal, which creates a leak-resistant barrier in the lunchbox. Mission and values were important to her, so she created her products using recyclable, post-consumer materials.

Stewart drew inspiration from family values to name the new venture. “In our home, we use the phrase ‘good kind’ with our daughters. We said to be the good kind of sister to teach her about sharing. Be the good kind of friend. It stuck and was fitting,” she said. It also represents better products, sustainable manufacturing processes, rigorous certifications, and consideration of both the people who make the product and the people who use it.

A Canada-based company, the Good Kiind’s primary consumer base is in Vancouver, Toronto, and other major cities in North America where people care deeply about product attributes and qualities and the company’s mission.

As an e-commerce business headquartered in a smaller town, Stewart stressed the importance of finding a like-minded business community. “E-commerce can be very siloed and feel lonely,” she said. “There are tons of podcasts to listen to, and it’s important to get involved with small e-commerce groups.”

Stewart’s relationship with her peers in these groups has evolved over the years. “I have an MBA, but there’s so much I had no idea about until I did it. A lot of it you can’t be taught in school,” she said. “Surround yourself with people going through the same things you are. Navigating those challenges together is really important.”

The Good Kiind product line is plastic-free.

Providing School Meals With Every Purchase

Stewart knew about Certified B Corporations because she was a consumer who took badges and certifications seriously. “You can’t always research everything. But I felt confident that when I saw a B Corp Certification on a package, that the company was vetted from a 360-degree lens,” she said.

Stewart never set out for The Good Kiind to be certified as a B Corp for the accolades. Running the business gave her an awareness of what certifications and standards require, such as keeping quality-control measures. Taking part in the Level program has helped her reflect on how leaders should run a business. “We made B Corp Certification a goal because we have a high-price-point product and wanted to tell the story behind why our prices are what they are,” Stewart said. “We felt that going for B Corp would support that. This is how business should be done.”

At the time of The Good Kiind’s inception, Stewart learned that 73 million primary-age children who live in extreme poverty don’t have access to school meals. Their parents must decide whether to send their children to school to learn and get out of poverty or to the streets to ask for food or money so they won’t go hungry. The trek to school can be up to three miles each way. Some children fall asleep and arrive at school late or get sent home because they have hunger pains.

To help address this issue, the Good Kiind partners with Mary’s Meals Canada to donate school lunches for every product purchased, equaling up to one month’s worth of school meals for a child. Mary’s Meals provides food to children in some of the world’s impoverished communities across 22 countries.