‘That time of the month’ usually has a destructive connotation, however the deluge of eco-friendly and natural female hygiene merchandise available on the market are giving a optimistic spin to it. How you ask? By being variety to planet Earth and to girls’s our bodies alike. Kolkata-based model FabPad, based in August 2020 by Shripriya Khaitan Dhelia and Upasana Todi Prakash, is a good instance of this. “Seventy % of women drop out of faculty once they begin menstruating. Approximately 3.3 million tons of plastic waste are disposed in India yearly and round 113,000 tons of this waste comprise single use plastic sanitary napkins. These should not simply statistics. This is a actuality that wants extra options than one.“Though we knew that that is a pretty crowded house, we had two principal aims once we began FabPad. To do our bit to save the setting and to deal with interval poverty in India. We needed to supply the fundamental privilege of wellness, self-care, and hygiene to girls all over the place,” says Shripriya in a chat with YS Weekender.The backgroundA graduate of London College of Fashion, Shripriya is a designer who brings design aesthetics on board. Upasana Todi Prakash has a BBA from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, and MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and brings the enterprise sense to their three way partnership.In August final 12 months, the 2 friends turned enterprise companions once they related over their imaginative and prescient of making a sustainable menstruation model in India. FabPad manufactures eco-friendly, reasonably priced, wholesome, and reusable options to female hygiene merchandise.Pointing to statistics, Shripriya says that although local weather change is a related and much-touted subject these days, only a few are involved about international waste.According to the newest World Bank report titled, ‘What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050’, international annual waste technology is anticipated to attain 3.4 billion tonnes over the subsequent 30 years. Unfortunately, interval paraphernalia is without doubt one of the main contributors to international waste, due to a lack of expertise of sustainable menstruation habits. “At FabPad, we purpose to influence the setting, together with creating an influence on girls round us. We are working in direction of empowering girls from low-income communities. Through our ‘Project Padma’, we companion with girls from deprived backgrounds to sew and promote fabric pads. For each 25 pads bought, FabPad donates one pad to economically deprived ladies. “We additionally companion with like-minded NGOs to organise workshops on menstrual well being with a objective to encourage open conversations round menstruation by way of consciousness and schooling. Through Project Padma, FabPad has until date distributed 5,000 sanitary pads and empowered over 5,000 girls,” Shripriya says.She highlights that switching to reusable sanitary gadgets is a person alternative for most ladies. Some girls will not be very comfy with utilizing a product like a menstrual cup whereas some could not have opted for it due to the lack of knowledge on it. FabPad desires to give girls a handy and eco-friendly different to select sustainable menstruation, The merchandiseSome of the merchandise obtainable are reusable fabric pads, reusable fabric pantyliners, menstrual cups, interval panties, reusable fabric diapers for infants, and natural cotton disposable sanitary napkins (the latest launch). The model plans to broaden its providing by persevering with to add sustainable merchandise to its line-up. “Since our model carries one thing for everybody and has gained traction as a one-stop answer for sustainable private hygiene and menstrual administration, our audience is kind of massive – from economically deprived girls in rural areas to Generation Z!” Shripriya says.Currently, FabPad capabilities as a D2C model with a deal with ecommerce platforms. The merchandise can be found on its web site in addition to on different ecommerce platforms akin to Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, Meesho, Jio Mart, and Big Basket. Prices of the merchandise begin from Rs 199 for a single reusable pad and go up to Rs 599 for a pack of 4 pads, reusable child diapers, and interval panties. Their core staff consists of seven members with a whole of 70 members, together with the manufacturing personnel. The model title is the brainchild of Shripriya and signifies ‘fabulous pads made of material’.Their advertising and marketing staff technique focuses on media channels, campaigns, and a number of avenues like paid adverts, native adverts, social media advertising and marketing, video advertising and marketing, search engine optimisation, and search engine advertising and marketing, amongst others. FabPad gives a vary of menstrual hygiene merchandise, together with menstrual cups, reusable fabric pads, reusable fabric pantyliners, interval panties, and natural cotton disposable sanitary napkins.The progress storyAccording to alliedmarketresearch.com, the female hygiene merchandise market is anticipated to garner $42.7 billion by 2022, registering a CAGR of 6.1 % in the course of the interval of 2016-2022. The report notes that one of many high components impacting this market is the growing demand for natural and biodegradable uncooked material-based merchandise.FabPad started with an preliminary funding of Rs 25 lakh from co-founders Shripriya and Upasana in a 90:10 ratio respectively. In simply over a 12 months, the model has added a variety of sustainable merchandise to its line and has clocked income progress of 10-15 % month on month.When requested concerning the competitors, Shripriya says, “At FabPad we strongly observe the mantra ‘Who does it higher?’. The house could be crowded however there may be room for everybody. Standalone sustainable menstruation manufacturers like Ecofemme in addition to product particular (child diaper) corporations are amongst our opponents.” However, she believes there may be a differentiator. “We are completely different due to our two principal targets – environmental influence and social influence. Through our merchandise, we would like to give a handy and eco-friendly different for girls to select sustainable menstruation, and thru our enterprise we would like to empower girls round us. Hence, model FabPad is by girls, for girls,” she says. “Our tremendous girls known as Padmas (named after their Project Padma), are an integral a part of our organisation. They assist us sew the FabPad merchandise, promote and distribute the merchandise, unfold consciousness about protected menstrual practices, and cut back the taboo surrounding the topic.” Since all their merchandise are manufactured in-house, they lay nice emphasis on high quality. Products stay reasonably priced by eliminating all middlemen from the method. “From the selection of material to the tactic of producing our merchandise, there are numerous methods by which FabPad is completely different from opponents,” Shripriya says.Well-placed to be a chief within the female hygiene and private care section, FabPad is trying to cement its presence across the nation additional. Several extra merchandise akin to sustainable breast pads, reusable make-up removers, intimate washes, bathroom seat sanitisers, tampons, and ultimately beauty and sweetness merchandise, are being researched for improvement. “We have already empowered roughly 37,500 menstruators with higher well being and hygiene, and would love to develop this quantity by 10x within the subsequent two years,” Shripriya says. Edited by Teja Lele Desai
https://yourstory.com/weekender/kolkata-sustainable-menstrual-hygiene-brand-fabpad/amp
