Welcome to Good Market Info!

Click the logo to go to the directory & marketplace

Welcome to Good Market Info! Click the logo to go to the directory and marketplace

Curation Process

Good Market is curated, which means all enterprises go through an application and review process to ensure they meet minimum standards for their sector and prioritize people and planet in their decision making. 

 

The curation process was designed to work across economic sectors, income levels, language barriers, and regional divides. It includes minimum sector standards, a dynamic online form, a consistent review process, and a crowdsourced monitoring system.

 

For community members, Good Market acts as a filter. It makes it easier for people to find and connect with enterprises that share their values. For enterprises, the curation process provides recognition of their efforts and ensures that the value of being “Good Market Approved” is maintained.  

 

The application questions and minimum standards were developed by reviewing more than 200 sustainability certifications standards, analyzing more than 50, aggregating industry best practices, and translating them into everyday language. The minimum standards are updated, and improved based on community feedback. 

 

The curation process and crowdsourced monitoring system emerged from 4 years of weekly meetings, the review of 1,000+ paper applications, and more than 100 instances of offline “flagging.” The process has been online since late 2016.

Contents

Minimum Sector Standards

A sector is an area of the economy in which businesses share the same or related products and services.  Governments and financial institutions have developed multiple classification systems (e.g. ISICNAICSNACEGICS) so they can maintain and analyze data on different sectors of the economy.  Good Market sectors are based on international classifications but adapted to reflect the emerging economy.  


A sector in an economic system is similar to a niche in an ecological system.  Categorizing vendors into sectors makes it easier to visualize the new economy, find other participants, and identify gaps and opportunities. 

Curation

Energy

Enterprises that focus on renewable energy supply, storage, distribution, and efficiency

Solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, geothermal and biofuel energy production, energy storage and distribution, energy efficiency

Materials

Enterprises that participate in the production, harvest, extraction, or recycling of primary materials

Agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, wild harvest, forestry, water, mining and metals, resource recovery

Middle Maker

Enterprises that transform materials and provide products and related services to other enterprises but not to end users

Machinery, equipment, primary processing, packaging, printing

Final Maker

Enterprises that transform materials and provide products and related services directly to end users

Food and beverage, personal care, sanitary products, apparel, home and office, consumer electronics, artwork, games, toys, outdoor gear, pet care, garden, building materials, transportation vehicles

System Services

Enterprises that facilitate the flow of information, people, goods, services, and capital in the new economy

Trade, transport and logistics, information and communication, financial services, professional services

Social Services

Enterprises that focus on wellbeing and advancement at the individual or community level

Hospitality, travel, art, entertainment and recreation, education, health, welfare, civic engagement

Place

Enterprises that care for, develop, or manage a physical area of land, water, or space

Restoration & conservation, landscaping, construction, property management, intentional communities, shared spaces

Dynamic Form

In order to become a Good Market approved enterprise, applicants complete a dynamic online form that covers 6 categories of operations: Organization, Environment, Customers, Workers, Suppliers, and Community. Dynamic means that new questions appear depending on how previous questions are answered.
Icon Organization

Organization

​Basic Info
People & Planet
Ownership
Revenue
Icon Environment

Environment

​Product Impact
Operations
Buildings & Land
Icon Customers

Customers

Purpose
Service
Health & Choice
​Transparency
Icon Workers

Workers

Inclusion
Benefits
Health & Safety
Participation
Icon Suppliers

Suppliers

Sustainable Sourcing
Fair Trade 
​Transparency
Icon Community

Community

Impact
Local Economy
Engagement

The application form starts with an agreement:  “I understand that I am responsible for accurately representing the current status of my organization, our products, and our services.  I understand that misrepresentation will negatively affect the reputation of our brand.”

 

Applicants are reminded that by answering “yes” to a question, they are making a claim about their organization, products, services, and operations.  The claims are shared publicly in the People & Planet section of their profile page.

Application Review

The online application uses an algorithm to calculate points and support the review process, but each application is checked by a human. The following criteria are considered:

 

  • Purpose: Does the organization have a social or environmental purpose? Does it prioritize the environment, customers, workers, suppliers, and community over short-term profits?  
 
  • Minimum Sector Standards: Does it meet the minimum social and environmental standards for the selected sectors?

 

  • Self-Sustaining: Does the organization have a self-financing strategy, e.g. trade, service provision, membership fees, crowdfunding, or volunteers? One-time events and time-bound projects are not considered sustainable.  
 
  • Internal Consistency: Are the answers to the questions logically consistent? Does the information match the products, services, and photos?
 
  • External Consistency: Does the organization communicate about purpose on packaging, social media, websites, etc? Do they have third-party certification? Does the information in the application match the organization’s external information?  
 

An application can be Approved, More Info or Not Approved. More Info applicants are requested to submit clarifications or additional supporting information.  Not Approved applicants are encouraged to improve their social and environmental impact and reapply in the future.  They can use the Good Market platform to link with service providers and suppliers who can help them transition to more sustainable practices.

Crowd-Sourced Monitoring

If an application is Approved, the claims are public and transparent. If customers, workers, suppliers, or community members have evidence of a false claim, they can flag a profile. Flagging starts a review process that may include supporting documentation or site visits to verify a claim.  If it is found that an organization made a false claim, they lose their standing as a Good Market approved enterprise.

 

This crowdsourced monitoring system not only reduces costs, it also builds trust and increases community ownership. Since the curation process is free and works across sectors, languages, and geographical divides, it is possible to include small-scale, locally oriented enterprises and groups that cannot afford third-party certification.

Corporate Reporting

Claims

Self-selected

 

Transparency

Details may not be public or accessible

 

Who Monitors

Self

 

Monitoring Frequency

Self-determined

Third-Party Certification

Claims

Standardized

 

Transparency

Details may not be public or accessible

 

Who Monitors

Paid auditor

 

Monitoring Frequency

Annually or biennially

Crowd-Sourced Monitoring

Claims

Standardized

 

Transparency

Transparent. Details public and accessible

 

Who Monitors

Customers, workers, suppliers, community

 

Monitoring Frequency

Continuously