How Hilde assigns ratings & company status
It all depends on how they perform on our evaluation
Step 1. Score all criteria included in our company evaluation
A big part of how we help families find companies they can trust when it comes to ingredient safety & sustainability is through our evaluations.
Our company evaluations use publicly available information to score a variety of criteria that cover a variety of topics related to ingredient safety, sustainability, and accountability.
Learn more about our evaluation process here.
In addition to a detailed review of the information publicly shared by the company itself like annual sustainability reports, we also check a number of NGO and government sites to help us score specific criteria.
For example, we may review information from the following sites to inform how we score specific criteria in our company evaluation:
- Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse product database
- Environmental Working Group product database
- Chemical Footprint Project survey results
- Science Based Targets Network target tracker
- Science Based Targets Initiative target dashboard
How well a company performs on the individual criteria included in our evaluation plays a direct role in how we assign ratings.
Do a deep dive into our evaluation criteria here.
Step 2. Calculate a rating for each category of criteria in the evaluation
The number and nature of the criteria that are successfully met in any given category (i.e. ingredient safety, environmental impact, benefits for people, accountability) is the basis by which Hilde calculates a "rating" for that particular category.
Our evaluation category ratings include the following:
- Strong Performance: The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate
- Solid Baseline: The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category
- Foundational Gaps: The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
You can find these category ratings represented by icons and text in the “dashboard” section of a company evaluation page as well as in the headline for each category in the “evaluation summary” section of the company evaluation page.
Hilde reserves the right to modify or update our category ratings at any time as new information becomes available.
Step 3. Determine company status based on criteria category ratings
The results of our evaluation category ratings determine the overall rating we assign to a company, called “Hilde Status”.
Our company status ratings include the following:
- Recommended: We regularly try to purchase and use products made by this company or their brands in our homes
- Consider: We may decide to purchase or use products made by this company or their brands in our homes when other options are not accessible
- Avoid: We try to avoid purchasing or using products made by this company or their brands in our homes
You’ll find the company status rating at the top of the “dashboard” section of a company evaluation page.
Hilde reserves the right to modify or update our company status ratings at any time as new information becomes available.
Our hope is that Hilde’s platform encourages companies to publicly share more about their safety and sustainability programs (we know first hand that more happens behind the scenes).
With federal rollbacks to toxic chemical laws happening—or being threatened—today’s consumers deserve more, not less information.
If you'd like to have Hilde evaluate and rate a company you can submit a request here.