Honor Thy Label

The inside story of iconic soapmaker Dr. Bronner's and their renowned, pioneering supply chain—rooted in sustainable, socially just business.

With Foreword from CEO David Bronner.

“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.

About the Author

Dr. Gero Leson is the vice president of Special Operations at Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling natural brand of soaps in North America. After joining the company in 2005, he helped its transition to sourcing all major ingredients directly from certified fair trade and organic projects, built from scratch, supplied by small-scale farms. Under his leadership, Dr. Bronner’s has become a pioneer in the global movement to establish socially just and environmentally responsible supply chains. Leson speaks regularly on business, sustainability, fair trade, and regenerative organic agriculture.