Leaders & Achievers 2022
STUART BENTON
CEO and president, Bradford Soap Works Inc.
THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, Stuart Benton has been raising the bar.
As Bradford Soap Works Inc.’s CEO and president, Benton says his West Warwick company with 350 employees is on track to make 50 million pounds of bar soap this year, emphasizing environmental sustainability.
“Our focus points are people, planet and profit,” Benton said. “We’re a mission-based company that happens to sell bar soaps.”
Founded in 1876 by two men from Bradford, England, the company first supplied flake soap for scouring wool to New England’s textile mills. Over time, it segued into helping companies create personal care product brands that contain little to no water.
In 2002, Bradford became the first U.S. soap maker to receive organic certification. In 2012, it was the first to work with the Rainforest Alliance, sourcing 100% traceable, sustainable palm oil from certified plantations.
In 2018, the company shifted again from making bar soap to the broader market of personal cleansing. Think shampoos, shave sticks and shower products.
‘Our focus points are people, planet and profit.’
You won’t find Bradford’s label on store shelves, but you will find Aveeno products, as well as those of Clinique, Johnson & Johnson, Bath & Body Works and Cremo, many of which the company created and launched.
“None of them are our own brands,” Benton said, “but they’re tailor-made formulas we developed and then produced for our clients.” His personal favorite for lathering up? Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree soap. “It’s tingly,” he said.
Like other Rhode Island businesses facing COVID-19, Bradford had to keep a safe workplace at what is a 24-hour in-person operation for many.
“We slowed lines and put up partitions. It resulted in a new way of producing products,” he said. “We didn’t have to shut down. We didn’t have major outbreaks; we kept people healthy.”
Despite those challenges, Bradford pursued its philanthropy, donating more than 70,000 bars of soap to the state of Rhode Island and to Amenity Aid during the pandemic, Benton said. It also sent tons of soap to international humanitarian organizations, including Eco Soap Bank and World Vision.
“We’re a little Rhode Island company,” Benton said, “with a reach across the world.”
