With two new launches—a tracking app and an anti-PCOS powder—the Indian menstruation market is evolving at a much-needed momentum, and women are saying, finally!
Amruta Chad swears by her pain relief roll-on; Niyati Anil Mavinkurve uses menstrual cups; Priyanka Pawar is experimenting with heat patches. Pics/Kirti Surve Parade
Remember the sanitary pad ads of the ’80s and ’90s, which never mentioned the words menstruation or period, let alone show blood? Instead, blue ink would seep into the ‘sanitary napkins’. As a six- or seven-year-old, Amruta Chad would innocently repeat the taglines, “So-and-so brand, now with wings!”
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“I lived in a joint family, and all my relatives would give me weird looks,” recalls the digital marketing copywriter from Andheri. “I didn’t know what product was being advertised, or what menstruation was. There was no conversation about it [among family or friends], neither were the ads educational—how would a viewer know how to use the pads, what were the wings meant for? My mother took me aside to explain periods, and told me to be discreet about them.”
Amruta Chad swears by her pain relief roll-on, which is discreet enough to be used while she’s out and about on her day. Pics/Kirti Surve Parade
A few years later, when Chad hit puberty, there were just two brands of sanitary napkins to choose from: Stayfree and Whisper. They continue to dominate the Indian market—Proctor and Gamble’s Whisper holds over 51 per cent share; Johnson and Johnson’s Stayfree, 28 per cent, according to a 2022 NABARD study.
It would be years before Chad discovered tampons on the Internet, and with it came freedom from rashes, to swim on her period, from fear of leaks. Five years ago, she discovered menstrual or moon cups through ads on social media, and was delighted to see influencers openly talk about how to use them, teething troubles and their solutions. Encouraged, Chad tried a cup, and has never looked back. “I saw a transformation in the way people were speaking about menstruation,” she says. “YouTubers were now casually talking about their favourite products the way they discuss favourite places to eat. And there are so many new brands and products to choose from now!”
With more open conversation around it, not only has the taboo around menstruation blotted to a great extent, at least in urban centres, but the corporate sector has finally sat up and noticed that there’s a lot of money to be made by addressing the pain points of women who make up 50 per cent of the country’s population. Market research firm Mordor Intelligence estimates the current Indian market to be worth R7,500 crore and anticipates this will rise to R15,000 crore by 2029. According to homegrown period panty brand Mahina though, the market is far bigger than that. “The Indian menstrual care market is estimated to reach R46,000 crore by 2027, fuelled by rising awareness, increasing disposable income, and a growing focus on health and hygiene,” said a company spokesperson.
It was seen as a big enough source of revenue for the government to impose a tax on pads and tampons in 2017. The levy was labelled “lahu ka lagaan” or “blood tax” by activists who campaigned against it for a year, until the Centre withdrew it in 2018.
Aditi Gupta and Laure H
With a population of about 40 crore menstruating women, and each woman experiencing an average of 450 periods (an average of 2,250 days of her life), India has been flooded by feminine hygiene brands in the last 10 years and their innovations such as biodegradable pads, menstrual cups, period panties, pain relief products, period-tracking apps and supplements to relieve symptoms.
It’s high time, says Navneet Kaur, Founder and CEO of FemTech India, the country’s first women’s ecosystem for change in women’s health innovation. “Women control 85 per cent of consumer spending and only get 2 per cent funding. It’s 2024 and these are the depressing stats. For a long time, women’s health issues, especially those related to menstruation, were considered taboo or simply overlooked. However, the increased availability of menstruation products, along with a growing number of startups and established brands entering the femtech space, shows a shift in the market. Companies are finally seeing the value in catering to women’s health needs and realising that there is not only a social responsibility but also a strong business case for doing so.”
Also Read: Odisha announces 1-day menstrual leave for govt, private employees
Auroville-based Eco Femme distributes free cloth pads among girls from low-income families while teaching them about menstruation
Just a fortnight ago, actor Ranveer Singh’s men’s wellness brand Bold Care launched a women’s wellness brand, Bloom, albeit with an unusual array of menstrual products. From tablets to tackle menopausal bloating, to myo-inositol powder to help with symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS, the brand has chosen to focus on a neglected aspect of the industry—life transitions and menstrual health. Co-founder and CEO of Bloom, Rajat Jadhav, says, “The reason we’ve chosen these niche categories is pretty interesting. As men, we can only go so far in understanding the issue. But the women-led team we’re building had an interesting insight—that life transitions are never addressed by the wellness market. Crucial aspects such as menopause, period care, PCOS and nutritional deficiencies are very specific to women. For a vision as unique as this one, we needed to have women at the heart of it. That’s why we’ve built a strong team led by [Business Head] Parinita Hendre.”
Such products are a godsend for Thane-resident Priyanka Pawar, who struggled with extreme menstrual pain that was dismissed by one doctor after another. She was diagnosed with PCOS but found no support from gynaecologists, who are more inclined to help patients when they are trying to conceive, says Pawar. Where the medical fraternity failed, the Internet helped. The former academician found online communities of women living with PCOS and endometriosis, and with their help and hours of research on the net, she found relief in inositol, a form of sugar naturally found in the body that when used as a supplement can greatly relieve PCOS-related pain.
Priyanka Pawar has recently started experimenting with heat patches to manage menstrual pain
While inositol helped with making her periods regular and menstrual cups removed some discomfort, Pawar is “constantly on the lookout for something that will help with the pain. I’m now trying out heat patches.” She also uses a period tracking app religiously: “My periods have never been regular. Before, I used to have to guess when they’d arrive. I get bad mood swings when PMSing, but could never figure out why. With a tracker, I’m able to anticipate my period, and it also helps me realise that if I’m having cranky day, it might be because my period is close or I’m ovulating. The app helps me gather data on delays, or how long or heavy my flow is to show the doctors.”
Earlier in October, Japanese feminine hygiene brand Sofy expanded its footprint in India with SOFY Club app. Unlike other period-tracking apps in the market, “it’s a comprehensive menstrual cycle manager that supports users even on non-period days,” says Ai Mizushima, Senior Brand Manager. “The app offers many unique features such as recording period status, as well as changes in physical condition and mood, and predicting the next period, ovulation, and PMS dates.”
Imagine an app that can predict that the user is likely going to be in a crappy mood today caused by period-related hormonal fluctuations. “In India,” says Mizushima, “only a small percentage of people track and manage menstrual cycles. Knowing menstrual and physical cycles can help us understand the reasons for changes in mood and physical condition, and make it easier to schedule daily and special plans.”
Revathi Srinivasan, Director, Singhania Schools, Thane
Another highlight of the free-of-cost app is the knowledge it will provide in an attempt to reduce stigma and bust myths. “One of the main challenges [in India] is still awareness and education,” Mizushima adds. “We believe that in order to melt away the taboo of menstruation, we need to provide not only offline period education in schools, but also online knowledge that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.”
One of the earliest indie brands to launch in this space was Sirona Hygiene, co-founded by brothers Deep and Mohit Bajaj. Their first product in 2014 was the country’s first female urination device, Pee Buddy, which allowed women to urinate standing up, removing contact with unhygienic public toilets and reducing exposure to UTIs. “I used to work in the event management industry, and had noticed it was near impossible to keep public toilets clean. Then my wife suffered a miscarriage due to a urinary tract infection and I decided we had to come up with a solution for women’s struggle with dirty toilets,” says Deep.
There is now enough money and prestige attached to the feminine hygiene industry that brands can rope in celebrity endorsements, such as Sara Ali Khan becoming the face of Japanese brand Sofy
Instead of directly locking horns with industry giants P&G and J&J by launching pads, the Bajaj brothers focused on “complementary products that would address other pain points”. For women who suffer from menstrual cramps but don’t want to take medication, Sirona came out with a pain relief roll-on; for those embarrassed by the disposal of pads wrapped in newspaper, the team developed sanitary disposal bags. “Many Pee Buddy users would tell us their problems and seek a solution,” says Deep. “We were two men talking about menstruation, but to ensure we never lost sight of the real problems, we kept talking to our wives and women friends. Because of this, Sirona has been the most innovative brand in this space.”
Eventually the product line-up expanded to include a menstrual cup and sanitiser, period stain remover, panty liners and more. As one of the earliest firms in Femtech, Sirona holds the highest market share for menstrual cups—nearly 60 per cent as of January 2024, when Deep and Mohit stepped down from active roles in the company following its R450-crore acquisition by Good Glamm Group.
Deep Bajaj, Co-founder, Sirona
There’s plenty of potential for growth in the market, says Deep, and they never saw the need to compete with the legacy brands. “We don’t think women need 100 brands offering pads,” he says, “There should be options beyond pads. Every woman and every period is different. One month, she may want to use pads or period panties, another month, she may be travelling and prefer the cup. We don’t need to challenge what already exists, but to expand the choices.”
Pads remain the most widely used product among Indians, shows the most recent National Family Health Survey 2019-20, where 64 per cent women said they used it. Menstrual cups, while more environment-friendly, were the least popular option at 0.3 per cent. “This is likely due to cultural taboos around vaginal insertion,” says Kaur.
Launched a fortnight ago, Bloom is the latest entrant in the menstrual care market in India. Sirona Hygiene, on the other hand, is one of the oldest indie brands in this space since its establishment in 2014. Pics/Ashish Raje
Busting myths around menstrual cups has been a mission for digital content creator Niyati Anil Mavinkurve (@abhiandniyu) since switching to cups during the COVID-19 pandemic. “There are some teething issues like finding the right size and insertion technique. But I keep telling my friends and followers that once you’ve figured that out, it’s perfect,” she says. “Women’s bodies and menstruation are still taboo in India, and many women are daunted by the thought of inserting anything.
Ironically, cups are the perfect choice to beat this stigma. Once you insert them, no one can even tell you are on your period. There is no fear of a leak, or odour. You can wash and reuse them immediately, so there is none of the shame that comes from washing and hanging up cloth pads up to dry, or the awkwardness in going to a friend’s house and asking where to throw a disposable pad.”
Finding the right size of menstrual cup is paramount for comfort, says Niyati Anil Mavinkurve. Once past that initial challenge, washing and reusing them is easy, she says
The fact that they are reusable makes cups friendly to both the planet and your pocket. Where one would spend an average of R350 on a pack of 10 pads for every period, a cup costs about the same and lasts up to 10 years. That adds up to savings of over R40,000 over the lifespan of the cup. Period panties and cloth pads are more expensive, ranging from R350 to R1,000, but since they’re reusable, they still work out cheaper than traditional pads.
There are other eco-friendly options as well, including good old pads that now come in a biodegradable avatar, like those offered by Pee Safe. These still require monthly expenditure, though.
“I think it’s insane that in a cost-conscious country like India, cups are not more popular by now. Women tell me they’re afraid that using the cup will mean they are not virgins anymore. I tell them virginity has nothing to do with cups. If you find a guy who has a problem with you using it, ditch the guy, not the cup,” quips Mavinkurve.
Today, even marketing messaging and advertisements for menstruation products are speaking louder. Not only do they show a more realistic simulation of blood, with a red solution, but they talk about periods—the good, bad and the ugly. Even legacy brands such as Whisper are now doing their bit to reduce the stigma. The brand’s latest campaign, Keep Girls in School, shows a schoolgirl confused about a bloodstain on her uniform, and wondering whether she was ill and would have to leave school. The ad reveals that one of five girls in India drop out of school when they get their first period—this at a time when our girls are getting their period as early as eight years of age.
As a copywriter, Chad is delighted with this change. “New-age ads are bolder in depiction of menstruation and more sensitive too—they no longer show women running around happy as a clam. That’s just false advertising; no matter how good the product, there will still be some discomfort,” she says. To tackle her own discomfort with cramps, Chad swears by her pain relief roll-on. “It’s just about the size of a lipstick, so I can use it discreetly, whether in a park, on the Metro or in office. I don’t have severe pain, so I don’t take medication,” she says, adding that she discovered the product through online ads.
As a marketing professional, what’s the one thing she’d change about how these brands present themselves? “I don’t see many placements from indie brands in mainstream media,” says Chad. “They mostly use online advertising. The products, too, are mostly available online, with barely any presence in offline stores and pharmacies, which still primarily stock only pads. For better market penetration, the brands should target local stores which is where most women still shop.”
How the products are portrayed in mainstream media—be it in movies like Akshay Kumar-starrer Pad Man, or in advertisements—plays a large role in how comfortable society feels about menstruation. Ads have gone from a latent message of “how to hide your period and reduce shame” to “what will make you most comfortable”. “The way menstrual products are advertised and talked about in India is really helping to break the taboo around periods,” says Kaur. “When brands openly promote products such as period panties, menstrual cups, and organic pads, it sends the message that periods are natural and nothing to be ashamed of. This reflection of real experiences and focus on menstrual health encourages more open conversations, especially among younger people. Campaigns that involve men are also very impactful, as they help normalise the topic for everyone.”
A lot of work still remains in rural regions, however, says Laure H, social media manager for Eco Femme, an Auroville-based social enterprise that funnels profits from the sale of cloth pads in India and abroad towards menstrual education workshops in lower-income groups across India. These pads are also distributed to girls and women at these workshops. A total of 3.5 lakh free cloth pads have been distributed by the organisation so far among rural populations where a large proportion of women and girls still use unhygienic cloth rags. “Our cloth pads are hygienic, made from certified organic cotton. Our thickest versions have eight layers with a leak-proof last layer, so they prevent staining. It allows women to bleed with dignity,” she says.
Period dignity and providing an eco-friendly reusable period equipment are among the founding principles behind the period panty brand, Mahina. “We believe it’s time to change the narrative from shame and disgust to empowerment. Periods are a natural part of life, and embracing your flow should be seen as an act of self-care, not something to hide. Period dignity is having access to safe, effective menstrual products and being able to talk about your experience without fear or embarrassment,” said a spokesperson.
One of India’s original menstrual educators and influencers, Aditi Gupta, Founder, Menstrupedia, says that like any other business, menstrual care brands must look at women as the customer. “Don’t use fear tactics to convince her to use pads to protect her virginity, or to use cups to protect the planet. Why are you putting the onus of reducing plastic only on women?” she says. “And women must never apologise for their choice of menstrual product. I went from pads to tampons to cups and then after childbirth, I felt discomfort using cups, so I went back to pads. When it comes to my health, I will choose whatever works best for me. There are plenty of brands and products for everyone to choose their best fit.”
It’s about bloody time.
Rs 46,000cr
Estimated Indian menstrual market by 2027
Source: Market research by period panty brand Mahina
For women, by women?
Although there are many women-led brands in the feminine hygiene space, the more popular ones are run by men. Asked about this discrepancy, Navneet Kaur, Founder and CEO, FemTech India, says, “I would say menstrual health brands are run by both men and women. In fact, 90 per cent founders in our ecosystem are women, but only 2 per cent get funding. We need both genders to drive growth. Some male founders make significant efforts to empathise with women’s experiences. In India, companies such as Sirona and PeeSafe, founded by men, have helped pave the way for other entrepreneurs.”
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