Unilever

As the globe’s third-largest consumer-goods company, Unilever has a reach few corporations can match. More than half of the agricultural materials Unilever uses now come from sustainable sources and it has helped train 800,000 farmers to grow crops responsibly. In 2009 the company stopped issuing earnings guidance to keep short-term profits from driving strategy. While some shareholders have fretted about the bottom line, Unilever says its most sustainable products (including Dove and Lifebuoy soaps and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream) are now its biggest growth drivers.