Ben & Jerry’s Founder Buys Soap Company

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen is turning his talents to marketing nontoxic hand soap and laundry detergent.

Cohen’s new socially conscious Barred Rock venture capital fund and a Philadelphia nonprofit, Capital-to-People/Murex Investments, said they bought Norristown, Pa.-based Sun & Earth Inc. for $800,000.

The company, which employs 14 people, makes liquid hand soap, dishwashing liquid, household cleaner and laundry detergent from citrus and coconut oils.

The products are sold in Philadelphia, Boston and some supermarkets in the New York City area, Cohen said.

Cohen started the Barred Rock fund with $5 million from last year’s sale of Ben & Jerry’s to Anglo Dutch consumer products group Unilever to invest in companies in low-income areas that offer good entry-level jobs.