A Decade of CBD Soap Making in Western Massachusetts

“If I have a customer come in, I'll have to put you on hold for a little bit,” Amanda Caracciolo told The Green Letter at the beginning of our conversation.

She and her husband Joseph Caracciolo founded Westfield-based Budsuds in 2014, and have built a successful local business in the CBD topicals space through a dedication to customer service and product excellence.

“It’s been over a decade,” Caracciolo said. “The customer always comes first.”

With a storefront on School Street and an online store serving customers across the country, Budsuds sells handcrafted CBD soaps and topicals, using natural ingredients and extracts to elevate their customers’ skincare routines.

In a conversation with The Green Letter, Caracciolo discussed the challenges of building a small business in the regulated and highly-competitive New England CBD industry, the joys of bringing her brand to market, and Budsuds successes over the past decade of growth and experimentation.

This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

When did Budsuds get its start, and what inspired you to create the brand?

Budsuds was founded in 2014. It's been over a decade, and actually it was before Massachusetts had approved recreational use. We were medical at that time, and we were dabbling in the industry: doing a lot of shows and events that came around. 

I've been in skincare – or aesthetics as it's called – for 12 years. I was in aesthetics school when I decided that I wanted to make my own products, and I started off making soap.

I decided that I wanted to take soap making classes, and my husband joined me for that. Whatever I want to do, he's very on board with, and that actually works out really nicely.

That led to adding cannabis into our soap making and the other products that we were making, and at that time we came up with a great name: Budsuds. It was a simple evolution, just putting weed in the soap.

I want to say we've been using cannabis for over 20 years now — well before legalization. At the beginning, it was very exciting just to be able to even have it for medical use.

You entered the legal market early. How has the cannabis industry changed?

It was 2016 when the market changed drastically. In the beginning, we had a very big presence on social media. That's how we got started. 

Long story short, I needed to open up a storefront so I had more space for manufacturing. That's why we started the soapery in Westfield. 

We have some presence on Facebook and Instagram, and we do some email marketing, but the store is a great source of income in addition to online. 

I've been at my shop here for five years now, and I've built up a really good rapport with the town and our local customers. The local community is very, very supportive. 

What drove that shift to brick and mortar? What issues have you run into building the Budsuds brand with digital platforms?

One of the biggest issues we've had during our decade of business is payment processing. PayPal really hit us hard. They hit me so hard that they put a hold on my account for six months – with money in it! 

I couldn't access that account for six months, and we were penalized for trading in CBD, even though it was legal to manufacture and sell. That was back in 2016, but we have also had problems with Square. They kicked us off their platform in the very beginning.

We definitely went through quite a few payment processors, and of course we're a company selling CBD products so it's been one of our biggest challenges.

Navigating through that, from 2016 until 2020, was tough to go through as a company. It's definitely been a pain for companies like mine that are small businesses. Finally, I was able to set up processing through my bank. They’ve been phenomenal.

You mentioned you have used cannabis for 20 years. What are the benefits of infusing soap with CBD?

First of all, it promotes healthy skin. It can reduce inflammation, but we don't put a lot of CBD in the soap. It's a lot less than a topical that you're applying on the skin – anywhere from 25 to 50 milligrams, so the soap doesn't necessarily target pain relief.

It's more about the skin benefits, moisturizing formulation, and helping with certain skin conditions. CBD is an antioxidant, and it can soften the skin.

Obviously, a topical that is 300 to1000 milligrams or so is going to be really beneficial for the skin as well, and that type of product is going to target pain relief in the localized area that you put it on. 

What is your favorite Budsuds product?

Our Buzz Balm Lavender & Peppermint CBD-Infused Cream. It's 500 milligrams, and is definitely my most popular product by far.

I personally use it every day, and it's actually my favorite product to make. And I've noticed that it's the best seller! 

It has more ingredients than other products, and it is an all-natural beeswax cream. Buzz Balm is something that I hand make and whip up myself; it's not like your typical salve

Some companies – not all companies, but many larger companies – buy their products in bulk, add extracts to them, and label them. 

I don't do any of that. Everything is by hand. I even cut the soap by hand – I don't use a machine or a soap cutter.

Building a brand on handcrafted, artisan processes, how have you converted product popularity into customer loyalty at Budsuds? 

Being in the community with our storefront is a big part of it. Every month I have customers that are religiously coming in for their favorite soaps or topicals.

Of course, I don’t make or sell only CBD products. I also make candles, and regular artisan soaps and bath products as well. 

I didn't want to just be a CBD store, if that makes sense. I wanted to appeal to everybody in the community. I do have families that come in here, families that have kids and just want to buy artisan skincare and bath products.

We also have a candle pouring area where customers can do it themselves – come in and choose your vessel or jar, choose fragrances, and pour your own candles. I'm here for guidance, of course.

It's been very fun. We've been doing that since last October. Going beyond just CBD has really helped keep our customers – and community – loyal and supportive. 

As we wrap up, do you have a favorite customer story you can share?

That's tough, because I have so many.

I have a lot of cancer patients that come in that are specifically using the CBD products. They're often using our relief cream – they used all the products, but they come back to the relief cream.

It can really help with their skin issues, especially as they are going through radiation and chemo. Obviously for pain, just like anybody who is post-surgery.

I definitely have more than just one customer that has left a mark on me. It's hard to just pick one of them. They tell you their whole life story. Then they end up knowing your whole life story, and you become close and friendly with them. It's tough.

I've definitely had customers that have come in while going through serious illness. They have really relied on my products, and then they pass away. It's tough to name just one customer or one story, because I've been in business so long. There's just so many people. 

It's super rewarding to be able to help them, especially those people who are going through some type of illness or cancer. Whether they make it through it or not, my products have helped them.