A woman’s menstrual period, sometimes referred to as a “curse” or other times referred to as a “friend,” is still considered a taboo in many parts of the world, believe it or not. In these areas, girls know little or nothing about menstruation up until the time they get their first periods; they more often than not miss school during menstruation and as they get older they miss work.

Feminine hygiene manufacturers around the world are looking to change this stigma, helping women to embrace their periods and hopefully gaining a few customers along the way. Several of these companies are dedicating a portion of their profits to providing women in areas like Asia and Africa with feminine hygiene products. This not only empowers women, it increases their productivity.

Recent startup Cora found its way into the feminine hygiene market through Kenya where founder Molly Hayward lived and worked for a while. While there, Hayward repeatedly heard stories from young girls of missing school one week per month while they had their periods. She returned the U.S. and founded Cora to dedicate a certain percentage of proceeds to supplying locally made feminine hygiene items in India.

And, feminine hygiene need is not just evident in the developed world. It is also a problem among the poor in the U.S. and Europe. To help combat this, Kimberly-Clark partnered with Dosomething.org to hold a donation drive for feminine hygiene items in homeless shelters. While the expense of feminine hygiene items may seem insignificant to many, it can be a major burden to women living in poverty.

Meanwhile, in New York City, lawmakers recently passed legislation providing free feminine hygiene items to public school students and prison inmates. Through a partnership with Hospeco, these public areas will have timed-release feminine hygiene dispensers providing free product.

In this month’s look at the feminine hygiene market (see page 34), we discuss these outreach efforts as well as other ways manufacturers are looking to gain new users and increase their sales, often starting with the youngest users of these products. Probably the oldest of disposable categories, feminine hygiene has gotten a makeover in recent years with more dynamic products for young consumers as well new product types like “period panties” or menstrual cups. It will be interesting to see how these trends impact the fem hy market in years to come.
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Karen McIntyre
Editor
[email protected]