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Honor Thy Label: Dr. Bronner's Unconventional Journey to a Clean, Green, and Ethical Supply Chain
"A compelling story about the kind of moral, life-giving decisions that businesses can make to do good while doing well."--Mark Bittman, author of Animal, Vegetable, Junk
What's in a label? For Dr. Bronner's, more than ingredients or intentions--it spells out an ethical commitment to fairness and sustainable growth, uniting consumers and companies worldwide.
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps are renowned for their dense product labels ("All-One!") and the curious tingling of peppermint. But how did this unusual natural soap transform the small print into soaring sales--inspiring customer loyalty not just with lather, but with good clean business?
In Honor Thy Label, Dr. Bronner's head of Special Operations, Gero Leson, reveals the inside story of how a little-known family-run soap company grew from countercultural roots to create a revolutionary fair trade and organic supply chain from the ground up--and rode the waves of popular demand without losing sight of the process. Through stories of harrowing setbacks and hard-won triumphs in projects that spanned the globe, in Sri Lanka, Ghana, India, and beyond, Leson demystifies the process of building and scaling ethical production. And he proves that if done right, the results ripple outward to benefit customers, communities, and the environment we share.
Told with spirit and conviction, Honor Thy Label invites socially conscious entrepreneurs and shoppers on a journey to break the boundaries of production with the pioneers of socially just business--spreading Dr. Bronner's radical vision of simple ingredients with cosmic impact.
What's in a label? For Dr. Bronner's, more than ingredients or intentions--it spells out an ethical commitment to fairness and sustainable growth, uniting consumers and companies worldwide.
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps are renowned for their dense product labels ("All-One!") and the curious tingling of peppermint. But how did this unusual natural soap transform the small print into soaring sales--inspiring customer loyalty not just with lather, but with good clean business?
In Honor Thy Label, Dr. Bronner's head of Special Operations, Gero Leson, reveals the inside story of how a little-known family-run soap company grew from countercultural roots to create a revolutionary fair trade and organic supply chain from the ground up--and rode the waves of popular demand without losing sight of the process. Through stories of harrowing setbacks and hard-won triumphs in projects that spanned the globe, in Sri Lanka, Ghana, India, and beyond, Leson demystifies the process of building and scaling ethical production. And he proves that if done right, the results ripple outward to benefit customers, communities, and the environment we share.
Told with spirit and conviction, Honor Thy Label invites socially conscious entrepreneurs and shoppers on a journey to break the boundaries of production with the pioneers of socially just business--spreading Dr. Bronner's radical vision of simple ingredients with cosmic impact.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 9, 2021
29 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 30, 2023
My DNF review is more of a stream of consciousness, but here it is:
Who are the ethical food producers/distributors, and why are they that way? Dr. Bronner's, Trader Joe's, Costco (whole foods?), Small coops, one near farmers market in Hillsboro? Etc., Organic valley, Newman's own.
They say they respond to new movements like BLM with a diversity task force and giving money. But...didn't most companies?
WHY is Europe all ahead of us? Is it our American Exceptionalism, compared to their longer and close-knit history?
What is the history of legalizing or de-criminalizing former taboo topics? Segregation, Prohibition, Marijuana, etc. More and more people call for it to end, but before?
This was written by an insider, so obvious bias exists. But the messages around fair trade, regenerative agriculture, etc are also obvious and valid!
There's a running thread of everyone knowing someone just right for what they need. Might just be cutting out all the tedious parts? Just seems like everything lined up perfectly at every step...
"You can make good money selling your waste." Very sustainable, using every part of the coconut for something - charcoal and food!
The history of the Bronner family is one that survived the horrors of the Nazi's, which was 'to be destroyed irreversibly between 1933 and 1945' - if fucking only. As always, the Nazi's ruined the lives of the founders, along with countless millions.
Midway note: I decided to actually stop and read all the fine print on the label. There is some hardcore zany wandering trail of thought and concepts. Seemingly a mix of Islamic/Jewish/Christian, all as one god and everyone must universally love each other? I'm an atheist, so learning what "Honor Thy Label" actually referred to was...confusing. All along I figured it was ethical concepts: regenerative agriculture, organics, fair trade, etc. While those topics are the core of the story of Dr. Bronner's, that is NOT what the label says. Misleading title. One partner jokingly suggested an almost biblical marketing line for the German market: “The soap that will wash your conscience clean.” But we knew that wouldn’t go over too well with Germans young or old.
Okay, his story says a class of middle schoolers gave a soap company a standing ovation? This is some serious reddit.com/r/ThatHappened content.
I wish he wouldn't have spent a large chunk of a chapter talking about how his drug experiences. How is it relevant? He went back later to legalizing pot for "spiritual" reasons. Yup, hippie.
Starts with a kind representation of Palestine despite Jewish roots.
BUT! Says Israel is legitimate, but "I feel for Palestinians! Israeli has the right and might to defend itself!"
Done at 48%. This guy's biased as heck, as both a company insider as well as personally. I came in hoping this was an external story, like The Secret Life of Groceries, but this what not what I expected or appreciated.
Who are the ethical food producers/distributors, and why are they that way? Dr. Bronner's, Trader Joe's, Costco (whole foods?), Small coops, one near farmers market in Hillsboro? Etc., Organic valley, Newman's own.
They say they respond to new movements like BLM with a diversity task force and giving money. But...didn't most companies?
WHY is Europe all ahead of us? Is it our American Exceptionalism, compared to their longer and close-knit history?
What is the history of legalizing or de-criminalizing former taboo topics? Segregation, Prohibition, Marijuana, etc. More and more people call for it to end, but before?
This was written by an insider, so obvious bias exists. But the messages around fair trade, regenerative agriculture, etc are also obvious and valid!
There's a running thread of everyone knowing someone just right for what they need. Might just be cutting out all the tedious parts? Just seems like everything lined up perfectly at every step...
"You can make good money selling your waste." Very sustainable, using every part of the coconut for something - charcoal and food!
The history of the Bronner family is one that survived the horrors of the Nazi's, which was 'to be destroyed irreversibly between 1933 and 1945' - if fucking only. As always, the Nazi's ruined the lives of the founders, along with countless millions.
Midway note: I decided to actually stop and read all the fine print on the label. There is some hardcore zany wandering trail of thought and concepts. Seemingly a mix of Islamic/Jewish/Christian, all as one god and everyone must universally love each other? I'm an atheist, so learning what "Honor Thy Label" actually referred to was...confusing. All along I figured it was ethical concepts: regenerative agriculture, organics, fair trade, etc. While those topics are the core of the story of Dr. Bronner's, that is NOT what the label says. Misleading title. One partner jokingly suggested an almost biblical marketing line for the German market: “The soap that will wash your conscience clean.” But we knew that wouldn’t go over too well with Germans young or old.
Okay, his story says a class of middle schoolers gave a soap company a standing ovation? This is some serious reddit.com/r/ThatHappened content.
I wish he wouldn't have spent a large chunk of a chapter talking about how his drug experiences. How is it relevant? He went back later to legalizing pot for "spiritual" reasons. Yup, hippie.
Starts with a kind representation of Palestine despite Jewish roots.
BUT! Says Israel is legitimate, but "I feel for Palestinians! Israeli has the right and might to defend itself!"
Done at 48%. This guy's biased as heck, as both a company insider as well as personally. I came in hoping this was an external story, like The Secret Life of Groceries, but this what not what I expected or appreciated.
July 20, 2021
A thorough and refreshing look at a company that strives to " do it right." Dr. Bronner's is an interesting natural soap brand, created by an interesting man. The book does a pretty good job of outlining the company's fair trade, organic and fair labor practices and you'll find some of the most stringent company policies out there. They've even figured out how to make palm oil sustainable. The goal for Dr. Bronners - isn't just to slap an organic label on the bottle but to source ingredients in foreign countries using not only organic (no pesticides) but sustainable farming practices (meaning the land is not depleted after use), fair labor practices using local project managers who understand the local culture. It's a heck of a lot of work and a shame they only make soap (they are starting to produce chocolate soon) but refreshing to see a company that isn't just using greenwash to sell products. Keep in mind, though, the book is written and produced by company employees and leaves out some of the more dramatic and interesting bits about the company's eccentric founder, Emanual Bronner. Though the author admits the original "Dr" Bronner (he was just a soap maker) was a bit odd, they don't focus on it though this information is available in other formats (an old documentary for instance). I thought this might be "too good to be true" so I searched far and wide to find evidence that they are lying or that their methods are really "bullshit" in disguise and I came up empty handed. I guess that means some companies can be trusted and is the reason I spend ten bucks on dish soap now instead of three.
May 25, 2021
An eclectic book, part autobiography, part business biography, part regional history and all-around informative about free trade and organic production. It provides unexpected insights into the challenges encountered by Dr. Bronner's as it moved towards ethical sourcing. Great information both about the physical issues (chemical drift from non-organic farms, the moral hazard for producers to mix non-organic commercial products with organic products, optimizing land usage), the content on dynamic agroforestry and the applications and implications of it were a particular highlight. The business side difficulties of developing trustworthy and mutually beneficial relationships in countries where you have little foothold was similarly penetrating. I picked this up on a whim at my local library and do not regret it.
April 7, 2025
I really enjoyed Gero Leson’s Honor Thy Label and learning about Dr. Bronner’s. One of the most important benefits of the book was how I felt encouraged that there are actually people out there who work day and night to blend business with the social and environmental changes we want to see in the world. Blending that mindset with a business competing in the private sector is really difficult, but this book was exceptional at demonstrating how we can make these things a reality. This is not the easiest book to recommend because it isn’t as “exciting” and I find it increasingly rare for people around me to read nonfiction. That said, I would highly recommend Honor Thy Label for anyone who is passionate about sustainability and wants to get into the weeds of how to build a company that embodies your values.
Key takeaways:
1. Offer financing support for your suppliers.
2. Facilitate technology transfers between your suppliers and partners to enable small, local operations to compete in consolidating industries.
3. Internalize desired societal improvements.
Key takeaways:
1. Offer financing support for your suppliers.
2. Facilitate technology transfers between your suppliers and partners to enable small, local operations to compete in consolidating industries.
3. Internalize desired societal improvements.
Read
July 15, 2021"In a nutshell, these rules require the use of certified organic ingredients if one wants to make an organic claim on the prodict label. Depending on its percentage content of organic ingredients, a finished multi-ingredient product may be labeled "100 percent organic," "organic," or "made with organic ingredients [specified ingredients]." Organic farming famously prohibits the use of virtually all chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. But that's not all: the postharvest processing of agricultural products is also limited to physical processes, such as heating, cooling, drying, and filtering, with minimal use of explicitly permitted chemicals, such as the alkali materials used in the production of soaps." Pg
50
50
March 9, 2021
Business books aren't my favorite genre, but I do end up picking one up a few times a year for various reasons. So, I feel confident saying this one is special. Dr. Bronner's is known to be a company that does things in it's own way--it has a storied history with an eccentric founder, and a commitment to doing activist work that challenges the status quo on all sorts of levels--and you feel that spirit from page 1.
Throughout the book, you get the sense that there are real people at the company thinking seriously about how to do the most good, and you grow to be interested in their personal stories and to think deeply about how you too can do the most good.
Throughout the book, you get the sense that there are real people at the company thinking seriously about how to do the most good, and you grow to be interested in their personal stories and to think deeply about how you too can do the most good.
January 10, 2024
2.5/5
Bronner is GOATED, but this book is not quite there. I wish it was either written by David Bronner or focused more on their ethics and principles more broadly, instead of fixating on the details of each of their raw material supply chains. The writing and structure of the book was a little disjointed and each chapter (and even paragraph) sometimes felt eerily similar to the previous. That being said, it was cool to learn about how deep Bronner’s gets into trying to make a net-positive impact on their employees, business relations, and the planet. Basically the only corporation that doesn’t immediately evoke visceral disgust in me.
Bronner is GOATED, but this book is not quite there. I wish it was either written by David Bronner or focused more on their ethics and principles more broadly, instead of fixating on the details of each of their raw material supply chains. The writing and structure of the book was a little disjointed and each chapter (and even paragraph) sometimes felt eerily similar to the previous. That being said, it was cool to learn about how deep Bronner’s gets into trying to make a net-positive impact on their employees, business relations, and the planet. Basically the only corporation that doesn’t immediately evoke visceral disgust in me.
May 2, 2022
Ok here’s a #business #logistics #fairtrade #organic #farming #reallife #interesting #nonfiction #book that I read in the midst of earfuls of crime novels. The long and storied tale of Dr. Bronner’s soaps.
March 29, 2021
Full disclosure, I did not finish this book. It just wasn’t worth it for me to go through the setup to get to the punchline.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews