This week Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap will be launching a series of organic soaps along with the culture of Fair Trade which means both decent wages and contributing to the community. Israel's industries are ignoring the trend, for the time being.
As dawn breaks over the coconut groves in Sri Lanka 80 laborers from Dr. Bronner's Magic soap factory go to work. Before getting down to business they meet in the dining room where workers and managers sit together, disregarding local, customary hierarchic divisions. Gero Leson, the owners' senior representative, also sits with them.
"Not all of them eat before coming to work, and they're in my care", explains Leson, who spends half his time in Sri Lanka. Putting ideology into action, he mingles with the workers in an effort to reduce the social barriers between management and workers. "Fair wages is not only a decent salary, it's a much broader commitment", says Leson, in charge of operating the Bronner Company's Fair Trade policy.
Fair Trade is a worldwide trend of recent years intended to prevent the exploitation of Third World citizens and to ensure the gradual reduction of the gap between developed and developing countries. European organizations, such as IMO and FLO, which coordinate the process, have established rules of conduct for companies. Those conforming to the standards receive permission to label their products as Fair Trade. The companies involved mobilize world social processes, distinguishing their products, and responding to a growing consumer trend of buying products manufactured without exploitation.
An eligible recipient of the Fair Trade seal must pay fair wages to all workers in the chain of production. The company must ensure that no child labor is involved and that part of the profits goes toward the welfare of the local population. This development is slowly expanding throughout the world, although Israel's industries tend to ignore the trend of ethical production supervised by independent, international organizations.
Coexistence alongside Fair Trade
The Dr. Bronner Company also prides itself on using only organic products. The work begins with finding toxic free land and continues with fair wages for the farmers who grow the raw materials used in producing soap: coconut oil, palm oil, and hemp extracts.
"Fair wages covers the cost of production, at least, with an additional 15% to 20% premium", explains Leson. According to him, the company purchases the product at world market prices. When the trading cost rises, as we've seen in the past few months, the indigenous people receive full payment many times over from what they received at the project's start. In this case, as well, the company is not exempt from paying the premium. Rather, it is transferred to supervisory bodies that deal with donations to the community, particularly in the areas of health and education.
The company's employees in Sri Lanka include 240 farmers who grow coconut trees on 260 dunams. The company provides subsidized, organic fertilizer and the employees' salaries include an "organic" addition of 10%. 1,000 tons of coconut oil go into a year's production of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap and the remainder is sold to other industries. To date, the company has invested 2 million dollars in Sri Lanka.
"There's something pioneering in what we're doing", says Leson. No other company has succeeded in making a product from a compound of organic ingredients throughout the whole supply chain, and paying fair wages, as well. Leson adds, "Fair Trade seals are usually issued for basic products, such as coffee and chocolate".
Dr. Bronner also has a project in the territories that involves Israel. They buy olive oil from an entrepreneur in Jenin who employs no less than 1,700 farmers, the Straus family (no relation to that of the dairy producers. It was subsequently revealed, though, that they are related to the Bronner family), who have an olive orchard near Yoqne'am, and the organic Kibbutz Naot Smadar in the Arava. The company purchases a few hundred tons of olive oil per annum. "We're not so naive as to think that, thereby, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can be solved, but we are an example of how to contribute to coexistence", adds Leson.
The company has a smaller, palm oil project in Ghana. Dr. Bronner is responsible for 200 farmers who cultivate 400 dunams of palm trees, and a factory that manufactures the oil and is managed by local women. An American citizen living in Ghana supervises the non-profit organization to which the company transfers its Fair Trade premiums. In addition to wages the employees receive organic premiums and are helped to improve the land for planting new trees.
The Fair Trade premiums that Dr. Bronner turns over to Sri Lanka amount to 100 thousand dollars annually. In Ghana they come to 30 thousand dollars, and another 100 thousand dollars are transferred for the benefit of the oil producers in Israel and the territories.
According to Leson, the company's Fair Trade involvement provides income for about 2,500 agricultural families, and 150 families of workers. In total, more than 10,000 people benefit from the company's Fair Trade policy. "Not a negligible amount", adds Leson.
Pioneers of Liquid Soap
Dr. Bronner is a family business, established by Emanuel Bronner in 1948. The family began producing soap in Germany 150 years pervious. Fifth generation David Bronner, company president, and Michael Bronner, Dir. Gen. of Sales, claim their ancestor invented liquid soap.
The Bronner family's soap factory was confiscated by the Nazis during WWII. A few family members managed to escape to the U.S. and Israel, but the parents were exterminated in Auschwitz.
"We are the third generation of the company, and the fifth generation of soap makers", states David. He further explains that his father was an ecological pioneer. When everyone else was producing chemically based soap, he made organic products. Dr. Bronner was also active on behalf of solidarity and coexistence among people, in general, sentiments which spoke to the hippy generation of the '60 in the U.S. Dr. Bonner enjoyed lecturing on his "philosophy of life", at the conclusion of which the audience would receive free bottles of soap. After a while he realized that people were only attending to receive free soap, and not to hear his speeches. He, therefore, decided to print a précis of his thoughts on the bottles' labels, including his phone number, should anyone be interested in an explicated version. The mother, Trudy, confirms that people did, indeed, call.
"The soaps are all natural, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly", Michael points out. "Even the bottles are made of biodegradable plastic".
The company employs 58 workers in California, according to David. Annual sales amount to 4.5 million bottles, and 2.8 million bars of soap. Each of those figures equals $23.6 million.
Was the company motivated to enter the Fair Trade market because of policy or because of pragmatic considerations; that the consumer trend would be good for business?
David: "We entered first and foremost out of social philosophical considerations, not out of an opportunity to made more money. Of course, if we saw that it would result in monetary loss, we wouldn't continue, because we're a profit making company. We knew there was consumer support, but we weren't sure people would buy our products. After all, we also took chances in going over to Fair Trade because it caused a price rise of 15%. In practice, it turned out to be a win-win situation".
Leson: "In the business of organic agriculture you buy from the second and third suppliers, with no connection to the growers. You're in direct contact with the raw materials; you can supervise the quality and the production process itself, without paying middlemen suppliers. There is, therefore, a business advantage".
Michael: "It's mainly a philosophy to benefit the workers, which distinguished the company even before it joined Fair Trade. For example, we have a rule that the highest income cannot be more than five times the lowest income. Our employees receive social security and health insurance, including dental care, with 15% of wages set aside for pension.
"Every year the employees receive 25% of their wages as bonus. "The company contributes at least 30% of its profits not invested into the community. At Christmas each worker is given a candle and money with which to buy something special for themselves".
The distributor, "Ecogreen" reports that Dr. Bonner's Magic Soap was officially launched last week in Israel, after a successful pilot run in specialty stores. The soap will be sold in health food and chain stores, to be followed by pharmacies.
