Dr. Bronner’s to Release Ethically-Sourced Vegan Chocolate This Summer

Could your favorite new chocolate bar come from the same company that makes your go-to soap? Dr. Bronner’s surprised fans with plans to launch Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One Chocolate vegan candy bar line this summer. The company, known for its all-in-one natural soaps, will be dipping a toe into candy manufacturing, launching the vegan chocolate bars at retailers nationwide. The new Magic chocolate line will feature six flavors: Roasted Whole Hazelnuts, Salted Whole Almonds, Crunchy Hazelnut Butter, Salted Almond Butter, Smooth Coconut Praline, and Salted Dark Chocolate.

Alongside the launch of the new chocolate line, the company is looking to spotlight the chocolate bar ingredients' ethical sourcing from small farms. The vegan chocolate is sourced from regenerative organic cacao beans and sweetened with coconut sugar, prizing both nutrition and sustainability in the development of the treat.

“Our recipe is simple: Perfectly balanced delicious ingredients sourced from fairly paid farmers implementing regenerative organic practices, that fulfill chocolate’s promise as an expression of love, elevating it to be the pure and ethical indulgence it is meant to be,” Dr. Bronner’s President Michael Bronner said.

Dr. Bronner’s hope to tackle unethical food practices within the chocolate industry, extending its dedication to sustainability and environmental activism to its new product launch. The company plans to use its first food line to promote improvements in the production of chocolate by helping the farmers and communities where it comes from.

The brand decided to develop its new chocolate line when the company learned that the farmers in Ghana that supply the organic and fair-trade palm oil grow cocoa as well. While working to develop the chocolate, Dr. Bronner’s also maintained agroforestry during the production and farming, which allows the crops and complementary streets to create a self-supporting environment without much human intervention. The company worked with the local farmers to grow the ingredients for its Magic All-One Chocolate bars while also supporting the communities and existing crops.

“The true cost of chocolate production has been externalized and paid by cocoa-producing communities in the service of profit for a few at the expense of many - leading to wide-spread ecological destruction, climate instability, poverty, worker exploitation, child labor, and even slavery,” Vice President of Special Operation at Dr. Bronner’s Gero Leson. “We want to model a move away from extractive capitalism to a truly constructive model. This thinking is at the foundation of Dr. Bronner’s decision to bring our magic chocolate to market.”

Dr. Bronner’s entrance into the vegan food market comes well after it started producing its vegan soaps in 1948. David Bronner, the company’s CEO, went vegan 20 years ago with the mission to live more compassionately and to become more aware of how the products he used affected the world. Since then, the company began donating significant portions of its profits to charities such as Mercy for Animals, Animal Outlook, and Sea Shepherd. With $190 million in revenue in 2020, the company allocated 40 percent of its profits to charities.

The vegan chocolate line is looking to become Regenerative Organic Certified by 2022. The chocolate bars will promote sustainability in food, drawing attention to the dangerous aspects of the chocolate industry as a whole. The company hopes that this development will put ethical farming and food production in the spotlight for the world to see.

“Dr. Bronner’s is making magic through regenerative organic agriculture and its many benefits: dynamic agroforestry, biodiversity, soil fertility, better livelihoods for farmers, and delicious, rich, dark chocolate,” Bronner said.