SoapBox Soaps, an Alexandria, Va.–based social enterprise that donates bar soap, clean water and vitamins to people in need in more than 80 countries around the world, is expanding. The company, which started in CEO David Simnick's Tenleytown apartment in 2010, now has products in Whole Foods locations across the United States and has been testing out selling products in Target and Costco. Simnick also says that the company will raise a $1.5 or $2 million Series A round in the fall.
"In 2013, we were in one Whole Foods region," Simnick says. This month, SoapBox expands to nine Whole Foods regions across the country.
The SoapBox model—donating a bar of soap for every one purchased—resonates with consumers. And the company isn't just selling soap. "For every bottle of body wash purchased, we work with our charity partners to donate a year's worth of vitamins to a child or an expectant mother," Simnick says. "For every bottle of liquid hand soap, we donate a month of clean water, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa."
It costs SoapBox roughly 25 cents per bottle to donate vitamins. Yet the body wash retails for $7.99 in markets like Whole Foods. Simnick breaks down where the money goes: "Whole Foods takes 50 percent off the top. The distributor takes 25 percent. The components of the product run about $2.50. So we're down to about $1 or $1.20 per bottle to cover employees, rent, insurance, marketing, etc. We give between 5 and 20 percent 'to the planet,'" he explains. "I want people to understand that. If I could I would give it all away, but money makes the world go round."
Simnick says that SoapBox is careful to work with partners so that the company's efforts are sustainable and don't create aid dependency. They work with
RainCatcher, a nonprofit organization that places water catchment systems, to provide clean water. For soap, "We...work with NGOs in a country with a local soapmaker to build a sustainable method of people getting soap, and so that we don't flood the market," he says. "Every mission we start should have an end in mind." SoapBox is currently partnering with Sustainable Missions International in Uganda for one such
venture.
In addition to raising funds in the near future, Simnick is exploring an expansion of SoapBox offerings. "Skin care and hair care are coming," he says. "Retailers have approached us. We can't tackle everything; we have to be careful about cash flow. [SoapBox] is sustainable now. It's a boat that floats."