Constructive Capitalism

We can only truly prosper if we contribute to the prosperity of all

Emanuel Bronner believed that a company has a responsibility to “Share the profits with the workers and the earth from which you made it!” His son Ralph called this approach Constructive Capitalism and we practice it in every aspect of our business—from the products we make, throughout our supply chains, to our dedicated activism and charitable giving, to our relationships with employees, customers and suppliers. It’s important to us that our products have a real and positive impact on the people and communities worldwide that make them. 

Business as a force for good —why Dr. Bronner’s is a Benefit Corporation

In July of 2015 Dr. Bronner’s became a Benefit Corporation with the State of California. A Benefit Corporation is a for-profit corporation that has positive impact on society and the environment according to legally defined goals. These goals are spelled out in our articles of incorporation and assessed against a 3rd-party standard (Dr. Bronner’s is assessed under the B Corp standard by B Lab).

A Benefit Corporation can also identify specific public benefits as additional purposes. Here are ours:

• Expand public awareness of environmental and social issues.
• Make products and source ingredients that are fair trade certified and USDA certified organic whenever possible.
• Promote equitable compensation: pay executives no more than five times the total compensation paid to fully-vested, lowest paid employees.
• Bronner’s growth and our pursuit of public benefit are advanced by our environmental and social activism. To that end, our owners and officers cannot be sued for pursuing such activism.

We’re also a certified B Corp™

Certified B Corps™ are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

B Corp™ Certification provides a useful third-party measurement tool to meet our performance assessment and transparency requirements as a Benefit Corporation. The B Impact Assessment model used by B Lab gives us an objective standard to track our improvements over time.

As a Certified B Corp™ we are now in a more formal alliance with other companies who are committed to modeling ethical and progressive approaches to business.

View our complete B Corp™ Impact Assessment Profile.