Dr. Bronner’s Exits Chocolate Business, Sets Up New Parent Co.

Dr. Bronner’s has transferred ownership of its 10-SKU chocolate bar line, launched in 2021, to Magic Chocolate Inc., a new entity formed by the brand’s long-term partners to help scale the line independent of Dr. Bronner’s business.

The move marks the ethically-sourced soap maker’s exit from the chocolate business, it said in a press release today, and comes at a time of record-high cacao costs, compounded by the impact of on-and-off-again tariffs under the Trump Administration.

Formerly known as Magic All-One Chocolate, the line sources cacao from a network of over 954 farmers. Since its launch, the brand has helped convert over 5,498 acres of conventional cocoa fields in Ghana and Ivory Coast to regenerative organic practices. The line has been relaunched as of early May and is now known as simply “Magic. The new parent organization will assume complete control of business operations and distribution.

By transitioning the chocolate line to a new, independent entity, Dr. Bronner’s believes it will be better positioned to increase demand, bring new innovations to market and have a greater impact while growing the supply chain for Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) ingredients.

Dr. Bronner’s expansion into chocolate, which has a supply chain long associated with unethical labor practices and environmental degradation, was done to “drive demand for cocoa produced the right way,” said CEO David Bronner. Under Magic Chocolate’s wing, the line will have a greater opportunity to grow and scale through under a dedicated and experienced leadership team, said Bronner.

“Launching a chocolate line has been an activist initiative for us since day one,” Bronner continued. “The reality of the chocolate industry and its cocoa supply chains is dire, with rampant exploitation of farmers and workers and ecologically destructive farming practices. We realized though to truly scale demand for our regenerative organic cocoa farmers, our chocolate line needed a steward that’s fully dedicated to the chocolate business.”

Magic will also now have the direct support of a duo of chocolate industry experts, including Magic founder and Swiss chocolatier Maestrani Schokoladen as well as co-founder and the former CEO of Theo Chocolate, Joe Whinney; Theo Chocolate was the first fully-organic and fair trade chocolate company in the U.S. Maestrani and Whinney have served as “close advisors” throughout Bronner’s chocolate industry experiment and Maestrani has manufactured the product since launch.

“Over the last four years, we learned that as a company whose primary business and brand position is soapmaking, we can’t scale our chocolate line fast enough,” said Bronner in a press release. “The product line will benefit most from having chocolate experts at the helm. While we didn’t originally imagine ourselves as incubators versus long-term stewards, transferring ownership to Magic Chocolate Inc. is the best way to grow and scale the initiative in the long term.”

The line’s Salted Dark flavor became the first Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) chocolate product in January 2024, and all of the chocolates are made with ROC cocoa, coconut butter and coconut sugar. The products will maintain relationships with its existing suppliers as well as its Fair Trade, Vegan, Non-GMO, and Gluten-Free certifications.

“It’s an honor to be part of the team leading Magic Chocolate Inc.,” said Whinney, in a press release. “Dr. Bronner’s visionary Regenerative Organic Certified chocolate sourcing has raised the bar for the entire chocolate industry, and we are excited to continue setting a new standard of excellence. We are committed to growing this chocolate line through investment, innovation, and a lot of hard work – all while modeling the highest standard of ethical business practices in sourcing and production.”