Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) David Bronner and President Michael Bronner write in the report’s introduction: “As we reflect upon an unprecedented year, the overarching mandate for 2020 at Dr. Bronner's was to ‘take care.’ In the face of a deadly pandemic, the inclination to approach every moment with care became second nature. Our first responsibility was to prioritize the health and wellbeing of our employees and our broader community. This went hand in hand with our unique role as a manufacturer of essential hygiene products.”
Dr. Bronner’s took care of its employees in several ways—the report details safety protocols implemented at manufacturing headquarters, and points to the disbursement of a “COVID bump” of $5,000 added to all end-of-year employee bonuses in 2020. Outside of COVID initiatives, the company has a starting salary for permanent workers set at $20.80 per hour, compared to California’s average hourly wage of $13 per hour, in keeping with its compensation ratio keeping the company’s highest paid executives at 5 times that of the lowest-paid fully vested position. Plus, all full-time employees receive fully paid health insurance.
Dr. Bronner’s took care of community members as well, donating over 100,000 units of hand sanitizer and nearly the same amount of 4oz Pure-Castile Liquid Soap to organizations and efforts supporting high-risk populations including seniors, people experiencing homelessness, frontline workers, and low-income communities.
“Taking Care of Each Other” also reports on Dr. Bronner’s diverse social justice-focused advocacy efforts. The company gave $16 million in total donations and sponsorships for 2020, an estimated 8.6% of the company’s net revenue of $188 million. Notable numbers in this area:
- $100,000 given to the Movement for Black Lives, the first donation in a 10-year pledge to give a total of $1 million
- $9.9 million+ donated in support of drug and psychedelic policy reform, which helped bring about significant ballot initiative victories in 2020
- $1.1 million allocated to Fair Trade projects
Related: Dr. Bronner’s Promotes New Book with Limited Edition Labels Regenerative Organic Certified: Setting the Standard for Soil Health, Animal Welfare, and Farmworker Fairness Ardent Mills Releases FY21 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
Another notable number: 178, the B Impact Score that Dr. Bronner’s earned in 2020, and the second-highest score in the world.Still more notable numbers: 27,643, the number of cultivated acres in the company’s agriculture supply chain that were Regenerative Organic Certified; and 335, the number of Dynamic Agroforestry acres cultivated as part of the company’s carbon farming efforts.
The report further provides an overview of international donations through the All-One International Initiatives, which launched in two countries in 2019 and expanded to 10 more markets in 2020.
The full reportis available here.
