The Costco Connection

COMPANYINFO

COMPANY Vanguard Soap

FOUNDERS Charles and Evelyn Breazeale

CEO Jeff Breazeale

EMPLOYEES 150

HEADQUARTERS Memphis, Tennessee

WEBSITE vanguardsoap.com

ITEMS AT COSTCO

Kirkland Signature Body Soap (Item #394697)

QUOTE ABOUT COSTCO

“Our team has been proud to work with Costco since 2005. We were impressed from the start with the integrity behind Costco’s Kirkland Signature strategy: Bring the highest-quality bar soap to members at the greatest value. We are thankful to all the Costco members who have helped us grow the Kirkland Signature Body Soap program over the years.”—Jeff Breazeale, CEO

BY STEVE FISHER

COSTCO MEMBERS know that Kirkland Signature™ products compete with the top products on the market. That’s because Costco buyers work very hard to ;nd the best manufacturers and then partner with them to produce the best formulation and value. A perfect example is Kirkland Signature Body Soap, which is manufactured by Vanguard Soap, a decades-old family company.

The Connection recently spoke to Je; Breazeale, the third-generation chairman and CEO of the company, to learn more.

THE COSTCO CONNECTION: What is Vanguard Soap?

JEFF BREAZEALE: Vanguard is our original family business in Memphis, [Tennessee]. It was [originally] called Valley Products Company. It was formed by my grandparents in the ’;;s. We are the third generation.

CC: Where are your products made?

JB: All the products are made in
Memphis. We’ve been at our site since the
’;;s. My grandfather went to what is now the
University of Memphis, and his ;rst job was
working in the chemistry lab at a soap com-
pany, and that’s how our family got into soap
making. He was promoted to run the plant
and eventually, when the owner of the com-
pany passed, he arranged to buy the assets
of the soap company from the widow, and
that’s how Valley Products started, in ;;;;.

CC: How did the company evolve over the years?

JB: When we started in the ’;;s, detergents hadn’t really come along, and so our ;rst products were laundry soaps. It wasn’t until ;;;; that we started making bar soap. That was during the Korean War, and there was a great need for soap in the military, and our ;rst product was GI yellow bar soap. My dad made that when he was a teenager in the plant. These were ;-pound bricks of soap.

My father joined in ;;;; and expanded our business into other vegetable-oil-based products. In the ’;;s, he decided to start focusing on bar soaps. I got involved in the ’;;s, and we’ve focused a lot on natural and organic soaps.

CC: How did the relationship with Costco begin?

JB: Our relationship began in ;;;;. It was actually through a company that is no longer in business, but they were a customer of ours. They introduced us to Costco. And we worked with that company in developing the Costco relationship. Then, in ;;;;, we started working directly with Costco on the program because that [other] business [was] sold. Since that time we’ve made many improvements in the program. It’s a continuing process.

For instance, installing more e;cient
equipment has allowed us to o;er the high-
est value. We have certi;cations that are
becoming important in the natural and
organic world, such as no animal testing,
non-GMO [genetically modified organ-
isms], made in the USA.

Costco looks at the market to see what the highest-quality product is, in that category. And then they want to be better than that and o;er value to the member. It’s a great model. Kirkland Signature bar soap is a natural soap, which is actually the highest end of the bar-soap market.

CC: How is the Kirkland Signature Body Soap produced?

JB: We start with vegetable oil, mostly palm or coconut oil. If we want to make a solid soap, we saponify it [turn it into soap] with sodium. That produces a solid soap.

Interestingly, for the KS soap, we’re doing something unique. It’s the only bar on the market like this that I’m aware of. We’re [using] potassium and sodium to make a bar soap. Usually bar soaps are all sodium soaps. By doing that we’re increasing the mildness and moisturizing of the bar. It’s a two-step process uncommon in bar soaps. C

Busı˙nesse
cleanı˙ng IS up Vanguard Soap stays in the family

Clockwise from top left: Ray Owen, a company chemist, in the early 1950s; kettle installation in 1946; CEO Jeff Breazeale in bar-soap production; and a bar of Kirkland Signature Body Soap.