Bubbles to Breakthroughs: Ithaca Soap Co.’s Patent Journey
By Phoebe Kyritsis, MBA ’25, and Ami Parekh, MBA ’25
Phoebe, Ami, Wendy, Andy, and Vishal Gaur during an onsite visit to Ithaca Soap. Photo provided.
Ithaca Soap, an Ithaca-based company that specializes in organic and natural soaps and lip balms, approached the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise’s Big Red Microenterprise (BRM) program at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business looking for guidance pitching their newly patented soap packaging process to other soap manufacturers.
Wendy and Andy Ives founded Ithaca Soap in 1999. In 2015, the company branded the lip balm division of the company as LiXTiK Lip Balm. Both the soap and lip balm lines are designed with product effectiveness, cost effectiveness, and sustainability in mind. This brings Ithaca Soap to its current business opportunity: a novel, plastic-free, compostable packaging for dehydrated liquid soap.
The label on the packaging says it all: “Organic Instant Liquid Soap – JUST ADD WATER!” By reducing the need to buy this soap as a liquid in the bottle, Ithaca Soap was able to dramatically reduce the weight of the product, the need for excess resources to be incorporated into the soap, and the carbon footprint from shipment.
Wendy and Andy saw dry soap as not only an opportunity to license a new patent and make additional revenue, but also a way to encourage the soap manufacturing industry to become more sustainable.
Marketing a disruptor in the soap industry
When first assigned the task of helping Ithaca Soap, we were unsure where to begin. Andy and Wendy expressed that they had attempted to contact various natural soap manufacturers but faced difficulties getting past the initial point of contact.
To overcome this issue, we discussed three options: selling the technology, marketing the technology, and licensing the technology. We went through the pros and cons of each option to explore opportunities and risks arising from each option. We concluded that by selling the technology, Andy and Wendy would have no control over future profits or marketing, and the path to revenue would be less defined. They were not having success trying to market the technology directly with natural soap manufacturers. With the technology licensing option, our clients could pitch their process to other manufacturers while being part of the nuanced decision-making processes involved.
After Andy and Wendy selected the licensing option, we got straight to work. Andy and Wendy had previously created a white paper outlining their entire innovative manufacturing development, which we reviewed in a business context, focusing on sections to refine and elaborate on. We focused on ensuring that their document highlighted their product concept, its benefits, and its potential to disrupt the soap industry while helping business customers reach sustainability targets and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
We also reached out to experts in the personal care industry to gain insight into the soap manufacturing process and to understand how larger target companies consider innovations in manufacturing. Armed with this information, we analyzed the various channels through which Wendy and Andy could reach out to soap manufacturers and gain the most traction to pitch their process.
It was inspiring to see Wendy and Andy’s initiative to learn about new trends and discover channels to connect them with industry leaders. They truly embody the idea that you control your own destiny and that you create new opportunities for yourself.
About the authors
Phoebe Kyritsis is a second-year MBA student in the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Before Johnson, Kyritsis was a financial data analyst at Qualtrics in Provo, Utah, ensuring accuracy and integrity of data and systems workflows. Kyritsis grew up in New Jersey working in her family’s restaurant business and enjoys the opportunity to be able to positively impact local business in Ithaca. Kyritsis received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago, majoring in economics and music.
Ami Parekh is a second-year MBA student in the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Prior to Johnson, Parekh was a senior consultant in EY’s technology risk consulting practice in New York City. Originally from Philadelphia, Parekh received a master’s in IT audit and cybersecurity and a bachelor’s in management information systems from Temple University.