The major time Phiona Joshy heard relating to the menstrual cup used to be from a chum in Kuwait support in 2018. Joshy, an assistant professor in a college in Kottayam, Kerala, had been wanting out for sustainable choices to sanitary pads, and her friend, who had been utilizing a cup for five years, beneficial she give it a dash. Within months, Joshy became a convert.
“I can by no way fill going support to a pad,” says the 44-twelve months-feeble. For Divija Bhasin, a 25-twelve months-feeble clinical psychologist primarily based totally totally in Unique Delhi, it used to be a YouTube video that presented her to the menstrual cup, which is inserted at some stage in the vagina, collects menstrual blood and is taken out, emptied, cleaned after which reused, unlike the single-utilize pad or tampon.
Bhasin says she used to be very eager on the way it the truth is works and thought it could be “a chunk extraordinary”. But once she started utilizing it four years previously, there used to be no scrutinize- ing support. “It has truthfully changed my complete menstrual skills,” says Bhasin, who has repeatedly had a heavy period and would strive diversified methods to alleviate the skills.
While the menstrual cup has been spherical in global markets for decades and in India for on the least the last seven years, it used to be an especially niche prod- uct.
But on the original time, corporations are seeing extra and further menstruators bask in Joshy and Bhasin attempting out the cup, serving to sales catapult in the last two- three years. “Gross sales in the last three years fill been out of the ordinary. It’s been rising nearly 100% twelve months-on-twelve months, although of path the contaminated used to be low,” says Deep Bajaj, founder, Sirona Hygiene, which launched a menstrual cup in 2017.
“Various ladies utilizing pads or tampons are willing to swap and when they are attempting it, there could be not any going support,” provides Bajaj, echoing Joshy and Bhasin. Vikas Bagaria, cofounder, Pee Protected, says sales of its cups fill jumped 15x since January 2020. Both Bagaria and Bajaj teach their corporations fill supplied 1 mil- lion cups each and each. Sonal Jain, cofounder of Boondh, one in every of the considerable players to starting up a menstrual cup in 2016, says on the original time there are on the least 14 novel compa- nies providing period cups. Ecommerce platform Amazon affirms the trend.
“With increasing awareness and de- mand for female intimate hygiene merchandise, we search for a spacious doable for menstrual cups. Sellers on Amazon.in fill seen a necessary surge in the de- mand for menstrual cups with a 2.5x enlarge in sales from 2020 to 2022,” says Nishant Raman, director, core consumables, Amazon India. Any product spirited a replace in habits is a elaborate promote, extra so when it is one for menstruation spherical which there are taboos, myths and miscon- ceptions.
But founders teach what has helped promote the cup in the previous few years is digital outreach, issues spherical sustainability and phrase-of-mouth rec- ommendations. “Digital media has made reaching out to your aim neighborhood more straightforward — you now not fill to rely on print or TV adverts,” says Bajaj of Sirona, whereby the Unbiased Glamm Neighborhood invested `100 crore for a necessary- ity stake in December. Some corporations also ensured that toughen used to be availa- ble for possibilities in the kind of vide- os and online FAQs. Boondh had WhatsApp toughen in five languages and Skype calls for possibilities.
Prices fill also come down, from `1,000-plus seven years previously to `350 now, an eco- nomical resolution since a cup can last on the least five years. The pandemic used to be one other driver. Being at house gave some the time and assorted to strive out and adapt to the menstrual cup. Pee Protected’s Bagaria says at some level of the considerable lockdown many healthcare workers began utilizing the cup to deal with far from having to salvage their PPE bundle since a cup shall be mature for far longer than a pad, up to 10-12 hours.
Tanya Mahajan, director of in- ternational programmes at The Pad Project, says a couple of ladies in rural areas who accessed the cup by way of non- profits began utilizing it when pads fill been now not with out issues accessible. “They discovered them very convenient, particularly ASHA workers, because they could well attach on them for larger than six hours and trav- el with ease.”
A leer by Development Solutions Inc and College of Liverpool which Mahajan used to be half of discovered that the inducement to swap to a cup differed with earnings teams. For rural ladies, a menstrual cup meant they now not needed to terror about eliminating pads, one thing that’s serene stigmatised. For the urban high-earnings individual, the push used to be to search out a extra delighted or eco- pleasant various (a non-organic pad could decide over 300 years to decompose and a menstruator will utilize about 5,000 pads of their lifetime).
This used to be the skills of Geeta, 31, an actor in Mumbai, whose period used to be so heavy that she used to be unable to step out of the house for the considerable two days. “I needed one thing that can preserve the waft for about a hours. And it feels good that I am now not contributing to menstru- al crash, since cups are reusable.”
Since a cup wants to be inserted into the vagina, there could be a studying curve for novel customers, and it will most likely even be steep. Ann Jacob, 31, a doctor in Kochi, as regards to gave up after her first few makes an try. But then she realised that attempting it out at some level of her period used to be more straightforward:
“And determined ample, after relating to the third month, I knew there used to be no going support to pads and tampons.” Bagaria says Kerala is a big marketplace for the corporate, whereas Bajaj says each and each south and east are wide markets, other than metros. HURDLES REMAIN On the opposite hand, cups are nowhere end to changing pads, which dominate the market.
For starters, there could be the mis- thought that inserting a cup could well fill an impression on virginity, a hurdle in a largely conservative society. Then there are fears that it could be advanced to re- circulation or could salvage lost inside of, which Bagaria says are queries the corporate frequently has to self-discipline.
There shall be puny advertising and marketing and marketing muscle since this class is dominated by startups and runt corporations. For massive sanitary pad mak- ers, a cup represents much less earnings since one cup shall be reused for years. “Established female hygiene brands fill now not yet entered this house in India and it is largely dominated by startups and runt corporations,” says Amazon India’s Raman. In the US, global big P&G, maker of Tampax, presented a menstrual cup in 2018, possibly seeing the growth in reputation.
In India, there are some initiatives with distributing menstrual cups. Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden presented a blueprint to distribute 1 lakh cups with out cost in his constituency. Karnataka’s effectively being department will starting up a pilot in two districts to distribute cups to 300 girls in executive colleges.
“It could actually be a sustainable and price-effective alter- native,” says Dr Veena V, deputy direc- tor of the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Yojana, who shall be in-fee of the Shuchi Plot to distribute sanitary pads. She admits it won’t be easy: “Mothers will must serene be made mindful first, so that they’ll relief their daughters.” If worthwhile, the pilot will possible be expanded at some stage in districts and, pos- sibly, age teams. If extra states be half of in, it is in total a sport-changer. What can support the cup in its jour- ney is that worthwhile customers inevitably change into its strong advocates. Mahajan says their leer confirmed that detect refer- ence used to be a wide factor.
Joshy has proficient cups to company and by no way misses a gamble to focus on it as does Bhasin who recommends it to “all people spherical me”. Geeta, too, says: “I am a self-proclaimed label ambassador of menstrual cups in my circles. I withhold telling all people about it.”
