– support good health and healthy
living. Seek and encourage the best
in one another.
4. Be fair to suppliers – Fair trade
means fair to the people – fair
prices, fair wages, fair working
conditions, respect for land and
communities. Invest, invest! For
we’re All-One or None!
5. Treat the earth like home – Reduce,
recycle, reuse, reuse! Make humble
and mindful use of the earth’s gifts.
Do not waste, do not harm the land
or people or animals.
6. Fund & fight for what’s right – Be
an engine for positive change.
Enrich the world, make good things
happen – share profits, share talent,
share music, share voice – give and
give!
Expanding on Cosmic Principle number
4, Dr. Bronner’s Fair Trade projects include
Serendipol in Sri Lanka – the world’s
foremost source of fair trade organic coconut
oil, Palestine and Israel for olive oil, India for
mint oil, Ecuador for sugar cane alcohol and
palm kernel oil, Kenya for avocado, tea tree
and coconut oils and Serendipalm in Ghana
where sustainable palm oil is produced by
smallholder farms.
Palm oil is a primary ingredient in Dr.
Bronner’s bar soaps. It gives its bars their
hardness, and balances the lathering power
of coconut oil while keeping the soap from
softening and dissolving too quickly. With
rapid expansion of oil palm plantations
in Southeast Asia causing large-scale
environmental degradation and social
deprivation, it was imperative that the
company found a source for palm oil that
did not cause new deforestation, endanger
crucial habitats or impoverish communities.
It began its search for a sustainable and
socially responsible source of palm oil in
2006. With support from the NGO Fearless
Planet, it found partners in Ghana’s rural
Eastern Region near Asuom. Serendipalm, its
Ghanaian sister company, built a small-scale
palm oil mill using traditional processes,
but with better facilities and more efficient,
safer equipment. Dr. Bronner’s then began
recruiting local smallholder farmers for
conversion to organic practices. Since the
mill began production in 2008, Serendipalm
has become the world’s most respected fair
trade and organic palm oil project. It works
exclusively with smallholder farmers and is
the largest local employer in an area that has
traditionally provided few reliable jobs.
From pioneering USDA certified
organic personal care products, to creating
Fair trade projects across the world, to
creating a socially responsible workplace
for its employees, Dr. Bronner’s honours
its heritage with progressive business
practices, while devoting profits to causes
and charities worldwide to improve and
enrich people’s quality of life. Today Dr.
Bronner’s is led by David Bronner in the role
of CEO (Cosmic Engagement Officer) and
Michael Bronner in the role of President, both
grandsons of Emanuel Bronner and sons of
Jim Bronner.
Some words from David Bronner on their
grandfather:
“From the beginning my grandfather
saw the birth of our company as an
opportunity to create positive change in
the world. His life’s work as a visionary
soapmaker was to ‘unite Spaceship Earth.’
Through the labels on his soap and with
almost every waking breath, he promoted
the All-One truth of our transcendent unity.
Today we honour his vision by leveraging
the company as an activist engine to effect
positive social and environmental change,
while doing right by our employees,
farmers, suppliers, and everyone else in our
All-One family.”
And from Mike Bronner on their father:
“In telling our father’s story, it’s hard to
know where to begin—with the inventor,
the leader, the storyteller, or the humble
servant. At heart, he was a passionate
soapmaker who had the kind of mastery
and instinct that could never be taught.
Although our father passed 20 years ago,
he laid the groundwork for our company
to successfully blossom into the company
we are today, and his lessons of love and
compassion live on in us: Stand up for the
little guy. Speak truthfully. Take a step
toward your fears. Learn from everyone.
Let your responsibility for others ground
you. Eat last.”
Autumn 2019 7