Dr. Bronner’s, a leading natural soap brand and longtime advocate for ethical business practices, has announced its decision to drop its B Corp Certification. “The announcement follows a multi-year campaign by Dr. Bronner’s calling on B Lab to meaningfully improve the B Corp standard,” the company stated in a press release.
The company explained its reasoning behind the decision in its statement: “Dr. Bronner’s believes B Lab has failed to fulfill its promise to implement new standards to prevent the dilution of the B Corp mission and protect the certification from being used by companies who seek to use B Corp for marketing purposes to portray themselves as more ethical than they are in practice.”
Why Dr. Bronner’s decided to leave B Corp
“To Dr. Bronner’s and many Certified B Corps, ‘Business for good’ is more than a trendy and profitable marketing strategy,” said David and Michael Bronner, CEO and President of Dr. Bronner’s, in a company statement.
They added that as Dr. Bronner’s is “a purpose-driven company, we do business to model a more just economy, and to demonstrate that a truly constructive multi-stakeholder approach to capitalism could be the norm.”
Therefore, they concluded, “the integrity of the B Corp Certification has become compromised and remaining certified now contradicts our mission.”
Efforts to improve B Corp standards were ignored
Dr. Bronner’s had actively engaged with B Lab, the nonprofit behind B Corp Certification, to advocate for stronger certification standards. The company participated in forums, signed an open letter organized by Fair World Project in 2022, and engaged in direct communication with B Lab in 2023.
Despite these efforts, Ryan Fletcher, VP of Public Relations at Dr. Bronner’s, said that Dr. Bronner’s concerns remained unaddressed. The company’s final decision to withdraw from B Corp Certification solidified as 2024 drew to a close without the anticipated release of new certification standards.
What this means for ethical certifications in the beauty industry
Dr. Bronner’s departure from B Corp raises broader questions across the beauty industry surrounding the role of certification programs in ensuring ethical business practices. “Dr. Bronner’s has long advocated to B Lab that certified companies, especially large multinationals, should be required to certify all major supply chains to credible eco-social certifications in order to be part of the Certified B Corp community,” Fletcher said, emphasizing the need for higher standards, particularly in supply chain accountability.
David and Michael Bronner further elaborated on this point in their press statement: “Sharing the same logo and messaging regarding being of ‘benefit’ to the world with large multinational CPG companies with a history of serious ecological and labor issues, and no comprehensive or credible eco-social certification of supply chains, is unacceptable to us.”
The company sees third-party eco-social certification as a key measure to combat greenwashing and purpose-washing in the beauty and personal care industry. “We believe that uniting around the need for third-party eco-social certification of all major supply chains is where companies need to start, and where our expectations as consumers should begin,” Fletcher noted.
He pointed to Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) as a leading certification standard that upholds high ethical and environmental benchmarks.
Dr. Bronner’s plans for ethical business beyond B Corp
Despite its departure from B Corp, Dr. Bronner’s remains committed to transparency and sustainability through numerous third-party certifications, said Fletcher. “We have a number of other third-party certifications as well as established practices that demonstrate our commitment to ethical and purpose-driven principles,” he said.
The company holds certifications such as Regenerative Organic Certified, Fair For Life, USDA Organic, and Leaping Bunny cruelty-free verification, among others.
Dr. Bronner’s will remain a legally registered benefit corporation in California, which allows for a company’s bylaws and fiduciary obligations to include social and environmental interests as stakeholders and establishes that profit is not the sole guiding incentive for business decisions.
“We have not seen adequate, transparent, and timely action from B Lab to update the standards or certification process to address our concerns,” David and Michael Bronner stated. “Now, our only recourse is to drop our certification,” and ”we hope our exit will prompt necessary and overdue action, and that allies who remain B Corp Certified will continue to push to improve the standard from the inside.”
Dr. Bronner’s has already begun the process of removing the B Corp logo from branding and marketing materials and will no longer pay its certification fees beyond September 2025.
“Our company first became certified as a B Corp in 2015 with the hope that the movement could help transition the global economy away from extractive practices,” the company press statement concluded. “However, we have seen B Lab fall short of its commitments, and now it is time to move forward in alignment with our mission.”
Moving forward will include the upcoming launch of a new community for purpose-driven businesses next March, said Fletcher. “We can’t say too much more about it just yet,” he added, “but the organization is called the Purpose Pledge, and the goal is to unite companies truly committed to fostering healthy relationships with all stakeholders.”
CosmeticsDesign reached out to B Corp for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
