Dr. Bronner’s, family-owned maker of the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America, has published its eighth annual All-One! Report. Entitled “Leading with Heart,” the brand’s unique take on a corporate social responsibility report summarizes the company’s philanthropic giving, environmental impact, and other important company developments in 2021.
The report spans the breadth and depth of Dr. Bronner’s support of environmental stewardship, social justice, and its modelling of progressive business practices. To view the 2022 All-One! Report, visit: https://www.allone.report/2022
In the introduction to the report, company Cosmic Engagement Officer David Bronner and President Michael Bronner explain what “Leading with Heart” means to them, as the family-run company navigates through these difficult times of social, economic, environmental, public health, and political crises - both across the country and worldwide. They write: “To truly be a force for good - to helm our company through the headwinds of a pandemic, economic uncertainty, and political divisions - to help advance meaningful impact and a more constructive economy - we must be humble, honest, open, and accountable. We must lead with heart.”
Living the company’s All-One! mission took many forms at Dr. Bronner’s in 2021, and the report details such efforts as Dr. Bronner’s work to foster Regenerative Organic Agriculture in the cocoa industry as described in the article “Cleaning Up Cocoa;” and the company’s progress toward a fully circular solution to its product packaging in the article “Do Plastic Better.” The article “Share Talent, Build Capacity,” details Dr. Bronner’s nonprofit training series as well as its BIPOC-focused small business mentoring program and its partnership with the fellow San Diego-based brand Dirt Don’t Hurt.
“Leading with Heart” also reports on the fighting soap company’s commitment to advocacy for social and environmental justice. In 2021, the company gave away over 40% of profits, totaling $8.6 million in contributions, to approximately 300 organizations whose work advances causes including animal advocacy, drug policy reform, regenerative organic agriculture, fair pay and fair trade, criminal justice reform, and community betterment, among others.
In addition to outlining support for myriad activist and advocacy efforts in the U.S., the 2022 All-One! Report also provides an overview of the brand’s international donations through Dr. Bronner’s All-One International Initiative, a program that launched in two countries in 2019 and has since expanded to 17 more markets in 2021. All-One International Initiative seeks to ensure mission-aligned advocacy is supported by the markets that the company sells its products in, which is at the heart of the company’s continuing global growth and expansion. Through this initiative, at a minimum, 1% of Dr. Bronner’s sales to participating markets each year will be donated to local advocacy efforts in support of social justice, animal advocacy, and environmental sustainability. For the All-One Ireland chapter, the program supported local non-profits VOICE Ireland and Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary in 2021.
All organizations supported through philanthropic sponsorships and charitable giving last year are listed in the report, along with the article entitled “Funding Systemic Change,” that highlights select nonprofit partners including VINE Sanctuary and Soul Fire Farm. These organizations reflect the company’s commitment to supporting projects that are engaged in crucial intersectional work to bring about holistic transformation for the betterment of people, animals, and the Earth. Dr. Bronner’s strives to support efforts that are often underfunded and unrecognized by conventional philanthropy due to systemic oppression and inequity.
A leading Certified B Corp, Dr. Bronner’s currently holds the 2nd highest B Impact Score in the world in 2021, with a score of 178. In measuring its own environmental impact in 2021, Dr. Bronner’s 2022 All-One! Report shares data related to waste generation, gallons of water used, greenhouse gas emissions, and electricity consumed. In sharing this information, the company seeks to both document its progress toward reducing its environmental footprint, as well as encourage other companies to embrace transparency and accountability in the collective responsibility to address human-caused climate change, especially in the manufacturing sector.
The report also details Dr. Bronner’s employee benefits and company finances, including fully-paid health insurance for all full-time employees, and the starting salary for permanent workers set at $22 per hour - 57% higher than California’s average hourly wage of $14 per hour. Dr. Bronner’s maintains a compensation ratio of the company’s highest paid executives to 5 times that of the lowest-paid fully-vested position. Furthermore, the report contains extensive company statistics offering data for such details as the number of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color employees who hold managerial positions; and the total numbers for jobs created and total number of smallholder farmers employed as part of the company’s global fair trade supply chain.
Dr. Bronner’s historic archive of All-One Reports is at: http://www.drbronner.com/media-center/all-one-reports/
The Dr. Bronner’s range is stocked in health stores and selected pharmacies nationwide and can also be purchased online at www.drbronner.ie
Slán go fóill.