More teen-focused period-care startups are entering wholesale
Major players like Kotex, Always and Tampax have long controlled the feminine-care aisle. Now, more period-care startups are getting wholesale pickup in time for back to school.
Pinkie, which caters to tweens and teens, is going into some 3,300 CVS locations across the United States on Friday. Its wholesale expansion comes three months after Pinkie went into Walmart and a year after it went into Target. August, an organic period-care brand, joined Target in the spring of 2023. Meanwhile, RedDrop, which makes pads and underwear marketed mostly to middle schoolers, began selling through School Nurse Supply seven months ago.
Young people in the U.S. are getting their first periods earlier on average than they did in the 1950s and ’60s, per a new study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. But young people aren’t typically the ones buying pads and tampons — their parents or guardians are. Period-care brands are thus seeking out more traditional retail options to reach families at large, wherever they shop.
Period care has long been a competitive industry, and one that’s largely marketed to adults. While brands like U by Kotex and Always Radiant have teen lines, not all period-care products are segmented by age. Women in the U.S. spend an average of $83 each year buying menstrual products, according to McKinsey, and the sector is projected to grow in the mid- to high- single digits this year, per various market estimates.
Resonating with young consumers
Pinkie sells smaller pads that are more fitted to teen and tween bodies. It began selling on Amazon in 2022, and today is a top result for “teen pads” on the marketplace. Pinkie raised a $1 million seed round in March 2023, per Axios, and went into Target later that year. It went into Walmart earlier this year.
Today, Pinkie’s sales are up “triple digits” year over year, according to the company. “We went from 500 stores to 5,000 stores in a matter of months for brick and mortar,” Sana Clegg, one of Pinkie’s co-founders, told Modern Retail. “That just goes to show that the demand is out there and that the retailers see this white space.”
Fiona Simmonds, the other co-founder of Pinkie, told Modern Retail that she and Clegg were inspired to create Pinkie for their own daughters. “Innovation in certain categories like teen and tween [period care] has really been underserved historically,” she said. “We saw that because we have the mom point of view. And now, we’re really excited that retailers see that as well.”
August, which launched in 400 Targets in March 2023, sells hypoallergenic and fragrance-free pads, tampons and liners made out of 100% cotton. The brand has a slightly older customer base than Pinkie; many of its shoppers are Gen Z, a group that includes teenagers and those in their early 20s. Being in Target was “a significant milestone for our brand and a reflection of the growing demand for more inclusive and environmentally conscious options,” co-founder Nadya Okamoto said in a statement last year.
Earlier this year, Okamoto went on a cross-country road trip to visit dozens of Targets in the U.S. and speak to shoppers about the brand. She documented her journey via social media — an example of how many of today’s period-care startups are focusing on digital.
That large following online can be attractive to retailers like CVS and Walmart. Pinkie, for example, has 2.3 million video likes on TikTok, while August has 15.5 million. The Honey Pot Company, which sells plant-derived period and wellness products, went into Target in 2020 and now has 1.5 million video likes on TikTok.
New types of products
Newer period-care startups are positioning themselves as great additions to drugstores by saying they solve age-old problems. For instance, Pinkie’s pads come in a non-rip bag that doesn’t make a loud tearing sound in the bathroom (thereby drawing attention to the fact that someone is using one). The packaging also doubles as a trash bag for easy disposal. What’s more, Pinkie’s products link to a social video that explains how to use the pad.
August’s tampons, meanwhile, have a long BPA-free plastic applicator with a smooth tip — something that came from customer requests, Okamoto said in a TikTok video from September 2021. “We kept hearing that people wanted longer applicators, especially for young menstruators… and that they wanted a rounder top for easier insertion,” she said in the video.
Innovations like these are important because they show brands are listening to consumers, said Meaghan Hafner, vp of health care insights & strategy at the global consultancy firm Human8. When wholesalers bring on these brands, they send that message too. “Wholesalers are recognizing the growing demand for more diverse and specialized brands, and that includes period care products,” she said.
Ultimately, she added, “Consumers’ expectations have never been higher, and this is just an example of wholesalers recognizing that we must prioritize brands that are listening to consumer needs and creating innovative products that offer unique solutions. And that means, in this case, taking a chance on the small disruptor brands.”
This story has been updated to clarify that Pinkie went into Target in 2023.