Organic, fair trade firm's leader to speak

(WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Oct. 20, 2016) The company president behind the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America will discuss corporate social responsibility and fair trade at the next California Lutheran University Corporate Leaders Breakfast.

Michael Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s, will be the keynote speaker at the event running from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills.

Under the leadership of Bronner and his brother David, fifth-generation soap makers, the Dr. Bronner’s brand grew from $4 million in 1998 to just under $100 million in annual revenue in 2015. Michael Bronner, a Los Angeles native who joined the company as vice president in 2000 and became president in 2015, is primarily responsible for international expansion. Under his direction, international sales grew from less than 1 percent to more than 20 percent of the company’s total revenue.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1948 by Bronner’s grandfather, German-Jewish immigrant Emanuel Bronner, Dr. Bronner’s produces organic body care and food products. Michael and David Bronner led the company in 2003 to certify its soaps, lotions and balms under the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program, making it one of the first brands and the largest personal care company to do so. The company pioneered 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles for its liquid soaps the same year.

Now based in Vista, the company coordinates certified fair trade projects that ensure the just treatment of farmers and workers for all major ingredients, including olive oil from the West Bank and Israel, coconut oil from Sri Lanka and Kenya, peppermint oil from India and palm oil from Ghana.

Dr. Bronner’s has worked to create a socially responsible workplace, which includes a 5-to-1 compensation cap between the top salaried employee and the lowest-wage warehouse position, and devotes profits to causes and charities worldwide.

The Corporate Leaders Breakfast Series brings members of the business and civic communities together to share ideas and hear from prominent leaders in the region. The series will continue with the following presentations: QAD President Pamela Lopker on the story of her manufacturing software company on Jan. 24 in Santa Barbara; IndieU co-founders Jeffrey and Natalie Edell on app development and entertainment on March 3 in Ventura; and a panel on trends in the hospitality industry on May 2 at Cal Lutheran.

Reservations are requested by Oct. 28. To RSVP, contact Sharon Nelson at smnelso@callutheran.edu. For more information, go to callutheran.edu/clb.