Diner sells soap bars made from bacon grease

A diner in Ocean City, Maryland, United States made a creative twist on sustainability and cost-saving actions by using the family's generations-old bacon soap recipe.

According to Sam Delauter, owner of the Sunrise Diner that opened in 2021, they have recently encountered increased prices of necessary ingredients.

To slash some expenses on the diner that only operates between March and October, Delauter used the family's generations-old bacon soap recipe to generate extra income.

"So pretty much 80% of the bacon cost is just cut out. Now, I barely pay for bacon. So with the price increases of like 30%, I kind of just got done. When people buy the soap, it offsets that," Delauter said on Coast TV.

Delauter said that he gives credit to his grandparents for this innovative approach and that this soap recipe was used to survive and save money during the Great Depression.

"Every year, we save about 1,000 pounds of it from going into the landfills. So there's a sustainability aspect as well." Delauter noted.

Delauter said that making the bacon-based Bumble soap is simple. He said it only needs fat and an alkaline substance (often lye) and the fat used for the soap is from the bacon grease.

He added that he made some tweaks from the original recipe, adding some essential oils for a nicer scent.

The Sunrise Diner sells the Bumble soap via bumblesoap.com at $6 per bar. Delauter also said that by the end of the year, they have earned $10,000 on selling the soap.