Dr. Bronners and the Organic Food and Farming Connection. Brett Williamson recent comment got me thinking. “And yet one of the largest campaign donors to Yes on 92, Dr. Bronners soaps, makes no money from the organic food industry. None.” I found that hard to believe so I started looking. I kept wondering and thinking that it did not make sense. Every company or corporation for or against this that invests heavily in the GMO labeling issue must have a vested interest. Why else would they do it? As I suspected and just discovered the truth remains: Every major company who has donated a substantial sum of money to the labeling initiative in fact does have something to gain or something to lose by mandatory GMO labeling. Dr. Bronners is NO exception and I have finally figured out what their M.O. is. This is especially relevant considering the pro-labeling sides claim that Bronners has done this out of the goodness of their heart and “Makes no money from the Organic food industry” This claim, like many others on the pro-labeling side is false and absolutely a misleading and a disingenuous proclamation to say the least. Dr. Bronners owns and operates an Organic Coconut and Palm Oil company which it founded in 2005. They in fact make a great deal of money in the sector of the Organic foods market which is awesome, good for them! What isn’t awesome is pretending like you have no skin in the game in regard to GMO labeling. While Dr. Bronners the Soap company has nothing to gain per se, Dr. Bronners sister company Serendipol Brand founded and operated by the people who own Dr. Bronners does have something to gain. It could be direct or indirect gain by either their own products or products produced by their clients and partners. They produce food grade Coconut and Palm oils and sell to at least two major Organic food retailers/producers based out of Germany- that I could find. These are just the companies the give credit to and doesn’t include smaller retailers or suppliers that don’t make their high profile client list. Serendipol has at least 3 umbrella companies under that name based in Kenya, Ghana, Sri Lanka. The original article I found that lead me on the path to figure out the name of the Bronners Organic food company was an article that mentioned Bronners getting involved in the Organic farming industry by founding their own Organic Farm in 2005. inc/magazine/201204/tom-foster/the-undiluted-genius-of-dr-bronners.html The solution: Get into the farming business. By 2008, Dr. Bronners owned a 200-employee fair-trade coconut-oil operation in Sri Lanka and a 150-employee palm-oil plant in Ghana, and had partnered on a peppermint-oil operation in India. Maybe the most audacious fair-trade project so far has been a partnership that combines olive oils from farmers in the West Bank and Israel, and has become a symbol of Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. Emanuel Bronner would be proud.” The next thing was a synopsis of the Companies name. You can see it clearly states that this secondary company was founded by Dr. Bronners. luckyvitamin/p-169619-dr-bronners-magic-fresh-pressed-virgin-coconut-oil-whole-kernel-unrefined-14-oz Serendipol: Organic and Fair Trade Serendipol (Pvt) Ltd. is the worlds foremost certified organic and fair trade source of Virgin Coconut Oil. Founded in Sri Lankas Coconut Triangle by Dr. Bronners, they pay their family farmers fair prices, and supply organic compost and training to improve soil fertility. Serendipols factory staff enjoy excellent wages and working conditions. The fair trade premium funds community needs such as medical equipment for local hospitals. Serendipol proves that business can be socially responsible and environmentally sustainable. The third thing came from Dr. Bronners Soap own website which clearly mentions their affiliation to the company and states: “We also source FOOD-GRADE organic coconut oil for our line of premium White and Whole Kernel Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO).” The next most logical step is to go directly to the Serediworld website and start reading mission statements and information. serendiworld/ serendiworld/product-lines/serendipol/ Then we can look at some of the mentioned Organic Food companies that purchase Certified Food Grade Organic and Fair Trade Coconut and Palm Oils from Dr. Bronners aka Serendipol. rapunzel.de/uk/produkte.html gepa.de/home.html Does it upset anyone else that the entire platform of Dr. Bronners has been that they have nothing to gain in this issue? That it has been purely a belief in Anti-GMO / Pro Organic food products that lead to their involvement and subsequent donation? This borders on lying in my book and while I have take no issue with them making a boat load of money in an industry where there is a lot of demand, I loathe the dishonest political slant of playing on peoples emotions and naive beliefs that they are an altruistic company with nothing to gain. Clearly they have a lot to gain from the GMO labeling initiatives. If this has been brought up before then I do apologize, I figured there had to be a smoking gun somewhere in regard to DB and the Organic Food market. Again, I take no issue with a company making a ton of money catering to market needs and desires. I do take issue with the claim that they have nothing to gain in a political sense when clearly they have a lot to gain by fighting to ensure this measure passes. I take issue in a philosophical sense in the unethical way in which their platform has been presented. Im just glad I have finally confirmed what I already thought to be true: Every company involved has a political or monetary interest. Period.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 05:52:38 +0000
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