Made with Maude
Supporting female winemakers
Maud Kleuskens uses wine to make positive impact and stimulate gender equality. Her young wine brand works exclusively with female winemakers - a minority in the male-dominated wine industry.
Maud shares her story: "In 2020, I learned about a female winemaker in Portugal who makes fantastic wines: Patricia. I also learned about the prejudices and (sexual) harassments female winemakers experience. Female winemakers are underrepresented: in Portugal less than 10% of winemakers are women. In a bit of a whim, I decided to support Patricia and buy 2,000 bottles of her wine." That was the start of Made with Maude.
Why choose a wine brand to make a positive impact? Maud: "Wine brings people together. There's nothing better than having dinner with a good bottle of wine. That wine tastes a lot better when you know it's good. Good for the environment and for the people who make the wine. My wines are made under the right labor conditions, using sustainable grapes, and made 100% by women. After finding Patricia, I've found more female wine makers. Claudia makes a wine with 0,5% alcohol, so that everyone at the table can enjoy a good wine.”
Providing equal opportunities
The Made with Maude Foundation goes further. It also provides equal opportunities for other women across the globe. A part of the profits will be donated to this charity. Maude works with CARE, a foundation that works on equal opportunities in more than 100 countries.
Maud explains: "The foundation will financially support of a project for female taxi drivers in Pakistan. For women in Pakistan, it's dangerous to travel alone. That's why most Pakistani women aren't financially independent. Made with Maude wants to sponsor the education for 110 women to become taxi drivers. Not only supporting the female taxi drivers themselves, but also enabling other women to travel to their education or work safely."
Key results
- Helping an impact start-up
- Sustainability assessment from the start of the company
- Ready for a 'pending B Corp' status, a certification for startups
- Supporting equal opportunities across the globe
A social enterprise
Made with Maude was founded in 2021. Maud: “I just finished all the steps to be able to bring the wine to market. There's a lot of work involved before you're allowed to produce, bottle, and sell wines from the different regions in Portugal. Also, I had my own strict criteria: ensuring fair and equal pay, and using sustainable production methods. I wanted my company to be a social enterprise from the start. That's why I wanted to make all preparations to become a B Corp." That's where Been Management Consulting comes in.
Helping with certification
We helped Made with Maude with the B Corp certification process. It's a special certification for startups, called 'Pending B Corp'.
Maud: “B Corp certification is very demanding. Your organization, your processes, your methods: everything is assessed from various angles. Consultants Esther Eijkemans and Sofie Snoek have helped me tremendously. They've helped me put everything together. What can I do now? What's the best way? What can wait until later? What should I do in which order? With Esther and Sofie's help, I expect to be a ‘Pending B Corp’ soon. Hopefully before the wine hits the shops. They also provided action list with topics to tackle when my business is a step further. Awesome.”
"B Corp certification is very demanding. Your organization, your processes, your way of working: everything is assessed from different angles. Esther Eijkemans and Sofie Snoek have helped me tremendously."
Maud Kleuskens, founder of Made with Maude
"Learn more about the B Corp certification process?"
Get in touch with Esther Eijkemans and mail to: esther.eijkemans@beenmc.com.
