Consumers seeking absorbent hygiene products featuring more natural and plant-based materials have more choices than ever before. The constant growth in options in baby diapers, period care and incontinence care continue to redefine the absorbent hygiene category with new brands launching every year. Growth in the natural hygiene products category is driven by factors such as consumer preferences for natural ingredients, which they deem as safer and gentler, overall environmental awareness, global plastics legislation as well as sustainability goals set by major brands, retailers and their suppliers. To achieve their goals, manufacturers are reducing the amount of petroleum-based plastics used, increasing the amount of plant-based raw materials, and focusing on ways to reduce waste after the life of the product is complete.

Pricie Hanna, managing partner, Price Hanna Consultants, says the first trend they are seeing is products with not just plant-based, but natural, biodegradable fibers such as cotton, rayon, hemp and bamboo viscose. “This is a much more prominent trend in feminine category, less so for baby and adult incontinence,” she adds. “Part of this trend may be driven by the trend in consumer wipes products shifting away from any type of plastic – even if it’s bio-based—following the EU’s definition of plastic and the labelling requirements imposed on wipes manufacturers.”

Cora, which markets organic cotton-based period care and light incontinence products, has witnessed significant growth in the natural period care market since the company’s launch in 2016.

“[The market] is currently growing at 40% year-over-year while total period care was up just 4%,” says Dana Cohen, chief marketing officer, Cora. “This growth is driven by consumers seeking out natural and organic alternatives to traditional period products, as well as the introduction of new formats such as reusable period products that reduce waste and offer comfortable extended wear time. Consumers are increasingly selective about the materials going in or near their bodies and there is heightened awareness of ingredients in period care and incontinence products. Retailers have responded to this demand by expanding offerings of natural brands in their aisles. We expect these trends to continue, as natural brands like Cora offer highly effective, comfortable products made with clean ingredients that consumers are demanding.”

Outside of cotton, hemp has become a popular fiber in the period care market this year with several companies planning to launch in 2022. On the baby diaper side, many up and coming diaper brands are looking to cotton, bamboo and bio-based plastics from sources such as corn and sugarcane to increase the amount of plant-derived materials in their products.

Liying Qian, senior analyst at Euromonitor International, says there has been a growing awareness and urgency to push for plant-based hygiene products that demonstrate both efficacy and eco-consciousness.

“Through the latest developments (e.g. new hemp-based sanitary protection releases in the U.S. such as Rif and Hempress, and biom’s 100% viscose-based wipes), we are seeing an expanded diversity of plant-based materials used in hygiene products, growing proportion of a product made from plant-based materials (more are going for 100% biodegradable or plastic-free, for instance), and a stronger focus on transparency and education (e.g. what this plant-based ingredient is, why it is greener, how it is sourced, and how it ensures the product functions well).”

The evolution of plant-based hygiene is manifested not only in ingredient sourcing for the product itself, she adds, but also packaging, such as sourced from FSC-certified forests, with a percentage of renewable bio-based raw materials.

Manufacturers of hygiene products are hearing demand for greener products from all angles. Belgian hygiene product manufacturer Ontex is witnessing a significant shift in focus on circularity coming from all stakeholders: customers, consumers, financial institutions, regulatory and competitors.

“The climate ambitions of our customers are increasing, setting requirements on us,” says Annick De Poorter, executive vice president Innovation and Sustainability, Ontex. “At first, we saw these customer requests focused on packaging, but this is changing to also more sustainable product requests, i.e., changing virgin oil-based materials for recycled, natural-derived, or biodegradable alternatives. Sustainability is no longer a buzzword; it is an imperative for consumers and their brands as they are increasingly aware of the changing environmental context.”

Balancing Act

As consumers keep pushing for more eco-friendly products, manufactures and brands are challenged with balancing these demands with efficacy and affordability.

Qian of Euromonitor says that the technical barrier and cost are key challenges these companies will face in the natural hygiene sector. “Technically speaking, how to strike a balance between including the maximum portion of plant-based materials possible and ensuring performance is a barrier inhibiting many manufacturers from using fully plant-based materials in absorbent hygiene goods such as baby diapers and adult incontinence goods,” she says.

Rising inflation also poses a challenge. Because plant-based products are often more expensive, consumers on a budget may reach for private label or more affordable traditional products for the time being.

Inflation, Qian says, has an impact especially in the short to near term. “Mid- to low-income shoppers in particular are either scaling back consumption to focus on formats hard to substitute such as products for heavy menstruation and incontinence, or switching to value options such as private label and in some cases reusables. For those able to spend extra, the expectation for clear price justification and transparent communications of added benefits is growing.”

However, in the much longer term, Qian believes inflation’s impact may dwindle once the situation improves. “Eventually, the hygiene category is primarily driven by fundamental consumer health habits and demographic trends.”

Xiaolin Li, chief development officer, Nannocare, a brand of period and light incontinence pads, admits that the supply chain crisis and inflation are affecting the industry as it has with all other products. “While we’re doing the best we can to not increase our pricing, it is a tough time especially for small businesses,” she says.

While inflation may cause a temporary reduction with users switching to cheaper products as their spending power has decreased and the pricing has increased, Li says the company is still working to maintain pre-pandemic pricing. 

“I think the natural hygiene market has had a challenging time in the past two years as we have been highly dependent on the supply chain networks and overseas production, but we’re working hard to adjust and continue to grow just like many other businesses do,” she says. “There is always a demand as personal hygiene [products] are essential needs and many consumers will always look for healthier and/or more natural options. So, the future is still looking bright!”

According to Pricie Hanna, the natural hygiene space continues to be almost exclusively in the premium price tier for consumer products. “The faster growth in the premium tier, relative to the middle and economy tiers, over the past several years has included customers who have historically been shoppers at lower tiers,” she explains. “We expect inflation to slow the growth of the premium tier and higher prices to force some consumers back to more affordable product/price tiers. This will also slow the growth of products in the natural hygiene space until these natural materials become significantly more affordable.”

From Ontex’s view, the current inflation makes a diaper or towel where 100% materials are made from compostable natural materials still a challenge, especially to make it available at large scale to the average consumer. That is why the company is looking not only to innovate for premium positioned brands but also focus on carbon reduction for affordable mainline ranges, De Poorter says.

“The natural hygiene market is fast evolving market both in raw material innovation as well as product proposals being offered on the market,” she says. “We work closely together both with our customers as well as with our suppliers to see what the natural raw materials of the future will be and work those out in sustainable product concepts. We see also see that certain natural and safe features are slowly cascading down from premium lifestyle to premium retail and even to mainline. This trend is only starting, and it will further accelerate.”

Protecting Baby & Earth

On the baby care side, increased demands for transparency and the heightened awareness of chemicals of concern have pushed diaper companies to eliminate unnecessary chemicals such as fragrances, while also replacing petroleum-based components with plant-derived ingredients. This has led to the launch of a plethora of new “green” brands in the baby diaper market from large corporations like Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark, to smaller, direct-to-consumer startups like Hello Bello, Dyper and Kudos.

Colin Hanna, director of market research for Price Hanna Consultants, says customers are still eager to try new brands, especially in baby and femcare. “When it comes to baby care, there seems to be a steady churn of new brands entering and fledgling brands leaving,” he says. “The big unknown for baby care is how to make these products truly sustainable. We see many different approaches and product designs but no clear consensus yet on what design is most sustainable.”

At the supplier level, he says there’s been important innovation happening to better incorporate natural/cellulosic fibers into nonwovens as well as plant-based, renewable ingredients into other components that have traditionally been petroleum-based. “We also see more manufacturers experimenting with ways to demonstrate either the recyclability or compostability of their products’ end-of-life. While none of these innovations have been truly disruptive, there are plenty of encouraging developments worth following throughout the supply chain for hygiene products.”

For its part, Dyper offers baby diapers made with viscose from bamboo fibers, and in 2020 partnered with TerraCycle to implement the Redyper composting program in the U.S.

From a raw materials perspective, bamboo offers a number of advantages, according to Katja Lerner, chief product officer for Dyper. Bamboo viscose, as a plant-based material, biodegrades faster than other materials frequently used in mainstream diapers. Bamboo viscose also results in a soft material that is kind on baby’s skin. “Customers frequently comment on the lack of diaper rash development when using Dyper, which is further emphasized by our five-star Dermatest certification and high customer rating on Amazon,” she says.

Further, bamboo is a grass. “It quickly regrows after harvest and can be considered a renewable biosource, making it an attractive option compared to petroleum-derived materials,” Lerner adds.

During the first half of this year, the company expanded into Thrive Market, an online marketplace, as well as select Whole Foods Market retail locations, marking the first time Dyper products are available in ‘brick and mortar’ retail stores.

“We have ambitious plans to rapidly expand our retail footprint, i.e., we are just about to launch with one of the biggest retailers in the world, to serve our consumers through increased distribution, and make our products easily accessible at all times,” Lerner says.

Meanwhile, through its commercial landfill avoidance program Redyper, Dyper announced in February that it diverted more than 10 million pounds of diaper waste from the nation’s landfills.

Redyper fulfills Dyper’s mission to provide parents with the most guilt-free, closest-to-zero impact diapering journey available. By collecting used diapers from Dyper customers, the optional Redyper service centrally processes and composts the waste. Available, for an additional fee, as a mail away service nationally, local curbside pickup is now live in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.

“The average child uses 3700 diapers by the time they are potty-trained, and more than 30,000 pounds of dirty diapers enter our landfills each and every week – where they can sit for up to 500 years,” says Sergio Radovcic, founder and CEO of Dyper. “It is critical for the planet that we address this problem – and that’s why we’re excited to announce Redyper’s expansion into three of the nation’s largest markets. The Redyper service is a cost-effective, responsible step that parents can take to ensure the health of the planet that they will give to their child.”

Before Redyper’s growth into the nation’s three largest cities, the curbside pickup service was already available in 11 cities across the country, including Boston, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. The program will expand to an additional 20 U.S. cities in 2022.

Another company tackling diaper waste is Ontex, which launched a dual set of initiatives in 2021. Ontex partnered with circular economy company Les Alchimistes to test industrial scale composting of diaper pads at Les Alchimistes’ site in Pantin near Paris, France.

Working with partner company gDiapers, which has 17 years of expertise in hybrid compostable diapers, the Ontex Little Big Change brand developed a new diaper system. The system consists of a reusable outer diaper made of cotton and a disposable diaper pad which is designed to be industrially compostable.

Based on the findings from these experiments with Les Alchimistes and the user test group in Paris, Ontex was able to successfully develop and test a fully compostable and better performing diaper pad, according to De Poorter.

“One important finding is that a compostable product is not just the sum of the individual compostable materials that meet ASTM D6400. There’s more to it than that,” she says. “The use of a single non-compostable material in the diaper composition can affect the compostability of the entire blend. Ontex is now working with suppliers to make fully compostable diapers a market reality. The challenge is not only to have access to these innovative raw material solutions, but also to keep the resulting products affordable without compromising on product performance.”

Maïwenn Mollet, director of the Fertile Diapers program at Les Alchimistes, says commercialization and expansion to other cities will take a few more years.

“The French government is showing great interest in the ongoing small-scale R&D pilot project,” Mollet adds.

In order to legally allow the sale of diaper compost as a soil amendment, various solutions must be considered to adapt the regulatory framework such as a standards and market authorization. “Les Alchimistes is confident that a regulatory solution will be developed if it can be demonstrated that the risks to health and the environment are eliminated,” Mollet continues. “The current geopolitical situation with Russia and Ukraine and the boom of nitrogen fertilizer prices (3x in one year) also shows the need to promote new fertilizers from local resources (urine, waste, etc.).”

Les Alchimistes is currently preparing to build a larger pilot plant to compost millions of compostable diapers. This plant will be operational as soon as certified fully compostable diapers are on the market, which it expects to be by 2024.

Ontex has also been working on a diaper recycling project with Woosh. Woosh launched a delivery and collection service for Ontex’s Little Big Change diapers for nurseries. The program started in Mechelen, Bruges, Ghent, then deployed to other Belgian cities.

“Like several technologies exist to produce a nonwoven, there are also several technologies emerging to recycle or industrially compost (or a combination of both) diaper waste,” says De Poorter. “Engaging in local pilot projects with these technology developers allows us to develop a product ‘best fit’ for a specific waste treatment.”

Ontex expects diaper waste recycling and/or composting developments and infrastructure will expand globally. “We are not advocating one solution over the other, but we try to manage the diversity of solutions being developed and implemented locally. This creates some complexity for producers like us,” she adds. “A product that is designed to be fully compostable cannot be recycled and vice versa.”

She gives the example of bio-based PE and PLA, two plant-based plastics that can be used for nonwovens. Ontex was able to demonstrate PLA ‘fits’ with diaper composting technology, like that of Les Alchemistes, and also ‘fits’ with diaper recycling technology, like that of ARN/Elsinga currently implemented in the Netherlands. With this technology, De Poorter says the PLA hydrolyses to lactic acid and will not get mixed up with the other recovered polymers for mechanical recycling. PLA, however, doesn’t fit other diaper recycling technologies operating at lower temperatures and the presence of PLA will hinder the recycling of the other recovered polymers. Meanwhile, Bio-PE ‘fits’ any type of diaper recycling technology, but doesn’t fit diaper composting.

“We have made changes to our diapers to increase the percentage of recyclable content and we have tools in place in our R&D, developed in partnership with professional recyclers, to assess the recyclability of new product developments,” she concludes.

Something for Everyone

New alternatives in the feminine hygiene category keep changing up the look of store shelves and today shoppers have more choices than ever before. To attract these consumers, companies have been distinguishing themselves in a variety of ways from experimenting with different plant-based fibers to offering reusable products and expanding into other product categories like beauty products and supplements.

“Differentiation comes in many forms, but fundamentally, any hygiene brands need to first establish their credibility by demonstrating that the product works as intended – absorbency, breathability, gentleness to skin and fit, to name a few, and layer that with unique added benefits and broader brand ‘ecosystem,’” says Qian of Euromonitor. “Value-added ingredient formations also help with differentiation, including CBD or herb infusion in the absorbent core, or use of sustainable, non-irritation and non-conventional fibers such as hemp.”

More brands also try to differentiate by developing a product ecosystem around period lineups such as sexual health or beauty and skincare, she adds. “These actions allow companies to transcend product-centric positioning and enrich brand identity around consumer lifestyles.”

Beyond that, Euromonitor has seen brands using a combination of industry certifications, celebrity endorsement and educational and empathetic digital campaigns to reinforce credibility and establish emotional connection. “All these come along with clean, eye-catching packaging design (think about Cora’s latest rebranding taking inspiration from beauty) and reliable and customizable shopping experience (subscription, virtual consultation, etc.),” she says.

Cora, which offers organic cotton tampons, pads and liners, as well as reusable cups, discs and period underwear, introduced its new comfort-focused brand look, feel and identity in April. In addition to the rebrand, Cora expanded its portfolio with new wellness products including Restorative Vulva Balm, The Stay Well Period Patch and The Balancing Boric Acid Suppository.

Cora’s bold new look is inspired by the beauty category that addresses comfort and self-care while imagining a more engaging shopping experience with a modernized color palette and approachable language. Cora also is doubling-down on showing the realness of periods through relatable imagery.

Cora’s entire portfolio has been renamed, making the period care items stand out with accessible language that emphasizes the type of comfort each product provides. New product names include: The Comfort Fit Tampon; The Peace-of-Mind Pad; The Got-You-Covered Liner; and The Perfect Fit Disc.

“We heard from consumers that being comfortable is a top priority when on their period, yet more than half of people never feel that way,” says Cohen. “With our new brand look, Cora is going all-in on comfort, empathy and belonging, because we believe consumers deserve to be comfortable on their periods.”

In addition to the rebrand, Cora also recently launched a new period liner in a longer length for those who prefer more coverage and redesigned its bladder liners for improved absorption. The bladder liners are available in three lengths for different body types and absorbency needs – Regular, Long, and Extra Long. All of Cora’s period pads and liners and bladder liners are made without chlorine, fragrance, or dyes and feature a dermatologically tested 100% cotton topsheet.

“Cotton is highly absorbent, which makes it an ideal material for tampons and for absorbing discharge in period pads and liners,” says Cohen. “Importantly, it’s also excellent at wicking moisture away from the body, which helps keep users dry and comfortable when used as a topsheet in pads and liners. It’s also extremely soft and inherently flexible as a fiber, which makes it comfortable against the skin. The cotton we use in our products is certified organic and grown without pesticides, which we believe is important for products going in or near the vagina.”

Cohen adds that they’re always looking at other renewable ingredients for their products, but they’ve focused on organic cotton for Cora’s current product line because they feel it offers better softness and is inherently flexible as a material, which makes it more comfortable against the skin as a topsheet. “Cotton is also a very trusted fiber with our consumers, long known for its comfort and absorption.”

Hospeco, which manufactures menstrual care products for the away-from-home market, is also using organic cotton in its latest product offering. Each pad in the Enviro Gards Organic Maxi Pads Vend Pack features a pesticide-free, 100% organic cotton topsheet; a compostable box; and an innovative, biodegradable and compostable bioplastic barrier film and wrapper. Enviro Gards Pads are chlorine-free, dioxin-free and fragrance-free.

“Cotton is the natural fiber of choice for use as the coverstock for pads,” says Bill Hemann, executive vice president, Hospeco Brands Group. “There has been a lot of work done by the nonwoven suppliers to improve its effectiveness as a topsheet, it is soft and comfortable, perceived as a healthier alternative, and it is most recognized in the market as a natural product.”

Multi-channel embossing wicks, absorbs and locks in fluid in the pads, while wings provide maximum side protection and help to keep the pad in place. Additionally, pad performance tests demonstrate that Enviro Gards Organic Maxi Pads absorb 15% more liquid and at a rate 80% faster and much more consistent than some other competing organic brands with a much lower standard deviation.

“Substantially, all current pads on the market have some type of synthetic incorporated into the nonwoven, or apertured topsheet of a pad, whether it’s polyester, polypropylene, or something else,” Hemann explains. “These specially engineered nonwovens were designed for comfort, to accelerate absorption, and to keep the skin dry by reducing rewet. These materials — all of these constructions — have been tested thoroughly for performance as well as for their non-irritating effect on the skin. Most people don’t even realize there’s synthetic components in the topsheet because it’s so soft.”

When moving to 100% cotton, he admits there are some performance tradeoffs. “A 100% cotton topsheet may be more comfortable when the product is dry, but, when in use, it will have a wetter feel against the skin than products incorporating specially engineered nonwovens. These natural products are also typically more expensive than current alternatives.”

Plastic cannot be completely eliminated from the pad because of the leak proof barrier requirement, he adds. However, to further enhance the environmentally preferred positioning of the Enviro Gards pad, Hospeco replaced the 100% plastic barrier with a compostable, bioplastic barrier film and wrapper, as well as a compostable box to increase biodegradability.

In other new product news, Daye, which offers CBD-infused, 100% organic cotton tampons, just launched the first-ever Daye pad—complete with anti-bacterial properties—that keeps users feeling comfortable and fresh.

Daye pads are 100% organic, with a sustainable bamboo absorbent core; fully compostable (both home and industrially); wrapped in biobased packaging made of corn; plastic-free and delivered using carbon-neutral transport; and each pad is extra-long, yet super thin, ensuring users are protected from leaks on all fronts.

Daye’s 100% organic bamboo fiber-based pads are designed to absorb every kind of flow—they’re also good for occasional bladder leaks.

Outside of cotton and bamboo, hemp has been the fiber of choice for some new up-and-coming period care startups.

Val Emanuel, a Southern California native, conceived the idea for Rif care (Regenerative International Female Inc), a hemp-based line of period care products, a few years ago while looking into some of the terms and ingredients in feminine hygiene products that she didn’t understand.

“My ex founded a company called Circular Systems, and he works a lot with hemp—he’s been working with textiles for 25 years,” she says. “I was traveling the world with him and I realized there are so many applications for hemp that we weren’t utilizing yet. One industrial use I thought could be great is as an absorbent material, so that’s how the original concept came about.”

Rif care currently offers pads in three absorbencies—regular, super and overnight. The pads feature a hemp and organic cotton fiber blend topsheet, a responsibly sourced and chlorine-free tree pulp core—without the use of super absorbent polymers (SAP)—and a sugar-based plastic backsheet, making it fully biodegradable. “My co-founder and best friend Rebecca Caputo is also working with our biotechnology partners to make our pads even more absorbent with other plant-based materials that have been underutilized.”

Emanuel believes hemp is a great alternative to other plant-based options on the market. “The feminine care industry was missing an alternative solution that was as good as cotton,” she says. “There were other products using bamboo, banana and even someone who came out with pineapple fibers, but at the end of the day we needed something that had a naturally better fiber composition, plus hemp is antimicrobial.”

Emanuel claims Rif care pads can biodegrade 100% in less than a year, in a landfill or in an industrial compost. The pads’ wrappers are also made of a sugar-based plastic that protects the pads without having an additional plastic bag surrounding them in the box.

Rif care, which launched on Kickstarter, began shipping its first orders in April and plans to expand into retailers. Currently, the products can also be ordered through the brand’s website, www.rifcare.com.

Despite the plethora of new period care products on the market, Emanuel think’s it’s a great time to launch a new feminine care brand. “There’s so much more information out there, and women are reading a lot and looking for other materials,” she says. “We’re using hemp for something as practical as feminine hygiene, and it’s going to help people realize the alternatives outside of synthetic options; it’s going to shine a light on what we could be using, and let people know that there are more options.”

Incorporating eco-friendly materials into product packaging has also been an important step for companies in the absorbent hygiene products market.

For Nannocare, the company recently integrated the same bio-plastic packaging it used in the NannoDry incontinence line into its NannoPad menstrual line. Both its incontinence pads and menstrual pads are made with 100% certified organic cotton.

“Previously we were using paper boxes for NannoPad packaging, a decision made back then in 2017 when we did not have many eco-friendly options for outside packaging,” says Li of Nannocare. “Since the material is doing well with NannoDry, we decided to use it for the other products as well.”

According to Li, a lot of damages occurred during transportation when the pads were packaged with paper boxes. The bio-plastic has alleviated this problem. “Although both materials are pretty eco-friendly, the amount of products wasted due to damage caused in transportation would be significantly less now using bio-plastic.”

Tackling Incontinence and Taboos

While the incontinence products category has been slower to respond to the sustainability trend in the absorbent hygiene products market, more companies on the light incontinence side have recently begun to implement more plant-based fibers.

U.K.-based brand Jude, which offers a line of light incontinence pads and liners made with bamboo fiber and corn-based PLA, launched earlier this year to fill the gap in the market.

The company’s founder, Peony Li, had spent the last four to five years in the consumer healthcare and women’s health markets, investing in many personal care and consumer care startups; one tackled erectile dysfunction and hair loss, and another one was in the beauty care space. Before Jude, Li was the head of operations for Daye, the company that makes CBD coated tampons, which help ease severe period pain caused by endometriosis.

“I love being in this sector that combines products with a brand and a mission that can change the way that people think about taboos,” she says.

Li’s family has been in the elderly care and personal care markets for the last three decades, and she grew up understanding the work that they are doing to serve people. “It’s in my DNA to love this industry,” Li says.

During the pandemic, Li began to distribute personal protective equipment to many care homes and caregivers, ultimately distributing around 6 million pieces in the U.K. through some of her connections. This was the first time she really observed bladder issues to be such a deep pain point.

“It’s not just 70-, 80- or 90-year-olds, elderly in care homes, but also the caregivers themselves and the business owners,” she explains. “There are a lot of people over 40, own a business, still super confident, very bright, but these are the hidden issues that actually restrict the way they express themselves. I just thought this is really unfair that this is still a taboo issue in 2021. Menopause has been revealed, that it is a problem in the dark, and I think the time is really for all the other body taboos. So, from then on, I set Jude on a mission to bring bladder care into the mainstream. I love the demographic that I’m serving, and just want them to be able to express themselves and be more confident in life.”

Jude pads and liners feature a soft corn-based PLA topsheet, a wood-based cellulosic core that features odor-neutralizing gel, and a soft, antimicrobial bamboo-based backsheet for ultimate absorption and zero leaks. The company also offers bladder strength supplements. “Taking our supplement is clinically proven to reduce leaks by 79%, so women can ween off the diaper-like products and move onto panty liners which are also more environmentally friendly,” Li says.

In addition to being available on the company’s direct-to-consumer website,  www.wearejude.com, Jude’s products also recently launched on Amazon in the U.K.

“Bringing bladder care into the mainstream is our first chapter,” says Li. “We have in four months of launch served 5,000 customers which is so awesome to know that such an underserved issue has finally been brought to the fore by us.”