Dr. Bronner's celebrates 75 years in business

Dr. Bronner’s, the family-owned maker of the top-selling natural brand of soaps and body care products in North America, as well as a recent chocolatier, marks 75 years in business this year. 2023 also marks 165 years since the Bronner family began making soap in Laupheim, Germany in 1858. Dr. Bronner’s, as a company, was founded in 1948 by Emanuel Bronner (February 1, 1908–March 7, 1997). Striving to produce the highest quality products—including its world-renowned soaps and ethical chocolate, the brand’s business practices are rooted in a vision of social equity. The company caps executive compensation at five times the lowest paid fully vested position, and all profit not needed for operations or development is dedicated to organizations, campaigns, and people working for progressive social and environmental change.

“Throughout this year, we are celebrating 75 years of soapmaking and activism. We are looking back at three-quarters of a century of spreading the ALL-ONE! message through doing business constructively,” says David Bronner, cosmic engagement officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s. “It’s a year of celebration, and a year of reflection. How has Dr. Bronner’s served the world? What do we have to offer to the challenges of our time? We seek to honor our legacy and live our mission by supporting a myriad movements for social and environmental justice while making the best products for taking care of body and home.”

Key dates and events for Dr. Bronner's this year include:

Social media campaign to invite and share customer stories about Dr. Bronner’s over the decades

Starting in Jan. 2023, Dr. Bronner’s social media channels have been posting engaging content around the theme, “75 years of Dr. Bronner’s: It’s as much about your story as it is ours.” The company is soliciting customers to tell their stories of encounters with the brand, Bronner family members, and other experiences related to Dr. Bronner’s. Giveaways, candid videos, historical photos, tales of Emanuel Bronner’s life moments, and wild but true stories from the Bronnerverse all feature heavily in this three-month campaign. The goal: invite and share meaningful customer stories, strengthen loyalty among current customers, attract new interest, and invite a feeling of nostalgia and curiosity about Dr. Bronner’s 75 years in business! The strategy: Each month for three months, the brand will ask customers to answer one question meant to encourage meaningful stories, and incentivize them with an opportunity to win an exclusive Dr. Bronner’s prize pack.

75^th Anniversary Commemoration at Natural Products Expo West and Expo East 2023
- Dr. Bronner’s exhibitor booth at both trade shows this year will feature 75th anniversary messaging and provide opportunities for attendees to share stories about their own experiences with the brand. At Natural Products Expo West, the biggest trade show of the year for the organic and natural products industry, Dr. Bronner’s will feature:
  - Opportunities to record audio stories through a red rotary telephone, like Emanuel Bronner once used to take calls from customers at noon and night when his personal phone number was featured on his product label!
  - Opportunities to meet Bronner family members and company leadership directly—through meet and greets with the current generations of the Bronner family that run the company today.
  - Giveaways for swag like Emanuel Bronner’s LP of audio recordings and 75th anniversary t-shirts will feature throughout the show, and a lucky grand prize winner will be selected for a trip to visit Dr. Bronner’s factory and headquarters in Vista, CA!
Announcements of new packaging innovations
- Details to be announced later in 2023.
Expansion of chocolate line
- Dr. Bronner’s Cool Peppermint Cream Magic All-One Chocolate and other new flavors to be announced later this year.
Release of book from Lisa Bronner, company spokesperson and author of Going Green blog
- Details of pre-sale and release to be announced later in 2023.
Completion of Bronner Haus Renovation and Family Soapmaking Exhibit in Laupheim, Germany
- Details to be announced later in 2023.

After 75 years, Dr. Bronner’s continues to be run by the Bronner family. Under the leadership of David Bronner, CEO and Michael Bronner, president—both grandsons of founder Emanuel Bronner—the company has grown from earning $4 million in annual revenue 1998 to $190 million in 2020. From progressive employment practices to a fair trade and regenerative organic supply chains, the company’s business model is to make equitable use of the resources it stewards. Dr. Bronner’s ensures all major ingredients are sourced from farmers and workers that make a living wage and are able take care of their land and communities in a way that regenerates rural economies and promotes biodiverse farming ecosystems.

Dr. Bronner’s supply chain was documented in the 2021 book, written by Gero Leson, Dr. Bronner’s vice president of special operations. Honor Thy Label: Dr. Bronner’s Journey to a Clean, Green, and Ethical Supply Chain was published by Penguin Random House. Currently, Dr. Bronner’s is leading on modeling alternatives to the broken food and agriculture system through its co-founding of the Regenerative Organic Certified standard. The brand is also illuminating new paths for mental health and taking care of each other—in healthcare and in labor. Dr. Bronner’s positions itself as the fighting soap company and dedicates organizational resources to advance progressive social change.

“Dr. Bronner’s and the Bronner family are elated to mark 75 years in business as a family-run and mission-driven brand that is still independently owned to this day. My grandfather made soap as a vehicle for his ‘All-One’ message on the labels that exhorted people to take care of the Earth and each other,” says Michael Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s. “We continue to actualize that vision by using our business as a vehicle to elevate the livelihoods of all people in our fair trade supply chain and workforce, and to make positive impact through donating our profits.”

Over the last 20 years, the company has contributed nearly $100 million to activism and charity and has fought to raise the minimum wage; reform the nation’s devastating drug policy; integrate psychedelic therapy to heal hearts and minds; protect farmed animals and ocean wildlife; and expose and transform industrial agriculture to a model that is regenerative organic and fair; among other efforts. For more information on Dr. Bronner’s giving, see its All-One! Report, an impact and sustainability report published annually since 2015.