Lodge Cast Iron
Evaluation Completed:
March 9, 2026
Evaluation Summary
Company Insights
Lodge appears to be one of those companies that is benefitting from a legacy of designing and making products that tend to be inherently safer and more sustainable in a number of ways. While the company’s formal efforts are still relatively recent, they have made some notable investments and some solid progress on the issues that matter. We like their focus on climate and appreciate their recent public reporting which includes useful information on their environmental impact reduction efforts. We would like to see more about where they stand on a number of worker fairness topics like paid maternity leave and see some opportunities for improvement related to accountability. But overall we think this company has a solid foundation to build on.
Ingredient Safety
Foundational Gaps
Solid Baseline
Strong Performance
Hilde Likes
Choosing inherently safer raw materials
This company chooses to make some products out of raw materials (e.g. glass, steel, iron, wood) that tend to be inherently safer when they are not coated or treated with other chemicals
Emphasis on known chemicals of high concern
A focus on limiting known chemicals of concern helps reduce everyday exposures and provides a safer alternative for families
Use of analytical testing
Helping ensure that raw materials, ingredients, or finished products are in compliance with internal standards or other requirements is a smart step
Opportunities for Improvement
Crafting a comprehensive chemicals policy
We think this company should create and publicly share a comprehensive and precautionary chemicals policy, ingredient safety standard, or similar
Verification of ingredient safety efforts
We think this company should start using or expand the use of high-quality certifications that help verify their claims related to ingredient safety
Category Definition
Our ingredient safety evaluation criteria are designed to help us determine how a company measures, manages, and discloses, the use of chemicals of concern that may be present in raw materials, ingredients, manufacturing processes, and finished products.
Foundational Gaps
The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
Solid Baseline
The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.
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.
Environmental Impact
Foundational Gaps
Solid Baseline
Strong Performance
Hilde Likes
Designing for durability
Their selection of renewable and durable raw materials like wood means their products tend to have longer lifespans
Taking climate action seriously
This company has a great foundation in place when it comes to climate including measuring all greenhouse gas emissions, setting some near-term targets, and reducing their emissions over time
Using recycled raw materials
Using recycled materials (e.g. aluminum, glass, plastic) for products or packaging often means lower environmental impacts across the lifecycle than virgin raw materials
Opportunities for Improvement
Committing to a science-based climate goal
We would love to see this company build on their existing climate efforts by publicly adopting a greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal aligned with a science-based approach
Launching efforts to protect biodiversity & ecosyse
We would like to see this company take steps to understand and mitigate the impacts their operations, supply chain, or products have on biodiversity, nature, and ecosystems and communicate about them publicly
Category Definition
Our environmental impact reduction evaluation criteria are designed to help us determine how a company measures, manages, and discloses information about the impacts that their operations, products, and supply chain may have on our air, land, water, and ecosystems.
Foundational Gaps
The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
Solid Baseline
The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.
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.
Worker Fairness
Foundational Gaps
Solid Baseline
Strong Performance
Hilde Likes
Employee equity or profit sharing
This company appears to share financial success with their employees beyond their salaries through equity, stock options, or profit sharing
Opportunities for Improvement
Crafting a strong Supplier Code of Conduct
We think this company should craft or revise their existing code of conduct to align with recognized international standards
Launching a responsible sourcing program
We would like this company to launch a responsible sourcing program that includes an internal policy, defines higher-risk raw materials, and their process for mitigating impacts to people & the planet
Providing paid maternity leave
We would like to see this company adopt a paid maternity leave policy for their employees that goes beyond regulatory requirements and share it publicly
Category Definition
Our worker fairness evaluation criteria are designed to help us determine how a company measures, manages, and discloses information about the way they treat their employees, workers in their supply chain, and other stakeholders.
Foundational Gaps
The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
Solid Baseline
The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.
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.
Accountability
Foundational Gaps
Solid Baseline
Strong Performance
Hilde Likes
Public disclosure and reporting
This company provides helpful disclosure on their efforts through annual reporting on sustainability or ESG topics for consumers or other stakeholders
Opportunities for Improvement
Disclosing political activities
We think this company should disclose any political activities like lobbying or making donations that it has engaged in as part of an annual report
Linking incentives & sustainability performance
We think this company should link incentives for key internal stakeholders to performance on sustainability goals and share those metrics publicly to help drive action on these issues
Category Defition
Our corporate accountability evaluation criteria are designed to help us determine how a company integrates sustainability across their organization to help govern decision making and engage with external stakeholders in socially responsible ways.
Foundational Gaps
The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.
Solid Baseline
The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.
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.