Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 9

115 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 9 what they discovered was that the lines to see a doctor were becoming shorter and shorter. Just that little surplus soap was now being used to better another part of the world.” Bradford then repeated the exercise with Eco- Soap Bank, helping village communities in Cambodia. “They’ve been giving the soap to schools and clinics, and it’s been very helpful in the COVID fight,” Benton says. “You know, for years, everybody kind of took soap for granted. I’ve tried to communicate this to my team over the last 18 months of the pandemic – that they are actually saving lives across the world by coming in to work.” About six years ago, the company began talking to its customers about water, specifically about long-term water-level declines. “The conversation was really about sustainability, but the first thing we brought to light was that water was going to be an issue,” Benton shares. “We’d go into meetings at that time and, quite frankly, I don’t think they took it to heart. Now we talk about Cape Town, the capital of South Africa, running out of water; how lakes in India are evaporating. Between that and COVID, I think the skepticism is starting to wane.” Looking ahead at the stakes in the feel-good, sustainable suds business, Bradford Soap Works is teeing up to promote more solid products as rising stars in the hygiene category. “We’d like to continue to advance the concept of solid, waterless, concentrated personal care products because of the sustainability factor,” Benton says. “Then we’ll likely focus the next 12 months on the microbiome and try to target some all- natural products to that. Our biggest living surface is our skin, and we don’t pay as much attention to it as we should.” In the short term, Bradford’s pilot R&D lab has plans to launch the latest version of its conditioning bar. “Everybody with a shampoo bar wants a conditioning bar,” Benton notes. “And we’re very close – we’ve hit upon some formulations that we believe work just as well as liquid.” In the end, Benton says, “We are more than a Bar Soap company, we positively impact people’s lives… at Bradford, in our communities, and globally.” 53 Veronica Ave. Somerset, NJ 08873 Tel: 732.249.6405 sales@customessence.com www.customessence.com BRADFORD SOAP WORKS