Dr Bronner was born into a soapmaking tradition as the third generation of his family to become a master soap maker in Germany, where he was born in 1908. He travelled to the United States in 1929 and began Dr Bronner's Magic Soaps in 1948.
After a couple of decades of selling to a loyal but small group of customers, by the late 1960s people were becoming more appreciative of his high-quality, eco-friendly soaps and sales began to grow. The soaps became available in every health food store in America and then tipped over to become a mainstream brand and the number one selling brand of natural soaps in North America.
The company still likes to keep things in the family – Dr Bronner's children and grandchildren run the business today, more than 150 years after their family began making soap in Germany.