Single-use plastic items are being eliminated in coffee shops and grocery stores, but products in the feminine hygiene industry are lagging behind. Plastics contribute to a large-scale pollution that hurts wildlife and human communities.

 As a result, conscious consumers are increasingly wary of their plastic usage and waste. Aside from their adverse environmental impact, women regularly and frequently need to purchase feminine hygiene products, which can be costly, tedious and inconvenient too.

Feminine hygiene products have also been reported to pose health risks for consumers, like the sometimes fatal Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) – although there is no conclusive evidence to indicate that these side effects are caused by non-organic materials in products.

Tampon Tribe offers a toxin free, hypoallergenic, chemical free, 100% organic cotton alternative for women who want to minimize their plastic usage. The company also offers a monthly subscription service to deliver their products directly to their customers.

At $10/month for a batch of products, Tampon Tribe has positioned itself to be a low cost, high quality and convenient option for women who regularly use feminine hygiene products.

Tampon Tribe’s founding team of four first conceptualized its company idea in 2015. By Q1 2017, they had their first order shipped, reaching 1K subscribers by Q4 2017. Since then, the company has increased its customer base to over 2.5K subscribers, with a target set on 10k subscribers by Q1 2019, which translates to $1.2M in annual recurring revenue.

All four co-founders remain involved in the company today, with Jennifer Eden leading as CEO. Jennifer most previously worked as Marketing Director at SALT Group. She also has previous experience in entrepreneurship as owner of her own restaurant in Beijing, ZAP Urban Eatery.

Customers can purchase Tampon Tribe products through a monthly subscription, which mails a batch of either tampons, pads, or liners directly to customers for $10/month. Customers can also make regular orders of their products through their website or purchase products through partner retailers.  

For example, Tampon Tribe signed a vendor contract with Urban Outfitters and initiated an Amazon sales trial. The company also has partnerships with small fitness/gym chains like Orangetheory Fitness to expand distribution. In addition to the broad distribution that online retailers like Amazon offer, these partnerships help Tampon Tribe target customers within the feminine hygiene product market, which mainly consists of women aged 15 to 49.

For example, Urban Outfitters targets men and women aged 18 to 28 and Orangetheory targets affluent women aged 25 to 49 years old. These distribution channels allow Tampon Tribe to encounter key customer segments and build positive brand awareness.

Feminine hygiene products consist of sanitary pads, panty liners, tampons, and spray and internal cleaners. The Global Feminine Hygiene Products Market size is expected to reach $37.7 billion by 2024, rising at a market growth of 7.0% CAGR from 2018 to 2024.

The United States market segment within the broader industry is estimated to be generating $2.7 billion in revenue and growing at an annual rate of 3.1% CAGR from 2018 to 2021.

Main distribution channels include supermarkets and beauty stores, in addition to online retail. Within the e-commerce space, subscription boxes have seen strong growth, as it has been reported that 15% of all online shoppers have now signed up for one or more subscriptions to receive products on a recurring basis, frequently through monthly boxes, which is not a surprise as we enter an age of the widespread “subscription economy.”

This outlook on subscription services could provide tailwinds to growth projections for online, subscription-based companies like Tampon Tribe, especially since women make up 60% of subscription service subscribers.  

Although the target market of young adult women may be shrinking on a national and global scale as the world population continues to age, the feminine hygiene product market has been buoyed by the surging popularity of “New-Age Natural, Renewable, Re-usable, and Organic Products” that has driven steady market growth.

“High quality,” as it pertains to feminine hygiene products, generally entails organic cotton products with BPA-free plastic packaging or cardboard packaging. In addition, new-age companies tend to highlight the ethics of their supply chains, using all-natural ingredients and transparent labor sourcing to set them apart from large incumbents like Procter & Gamble (P&G). Customers also benefit from the convenience of an online subscription delivery model.

Tampon Tribe products are on par with such qualifications, and the company sets itself apart by using plastic-free, compostable packaging. While there are a few other players that offer high-quality feminine hygiene products through a subscription-based delivery model, competitors generally have a lesser emphasis on environmental sustainab ility and more of a focus on their social missions.  

Tampon Tribe’s $10 per box pricing is also on-par with competitors, which generally sell their monthly subscription service online within a price range of $6.50 per box to $15 per box.

Investors with conviction in the rise of environmentally conscious brands may be interested in investing in Tampon Tribe, as the company already meets the mark on quality and convenience when compared to its competitors. Even large incumbents like P&G have set goals to re-design brands to meet growing demand for eco-friendly goods.

There is also clear indications from the companies above that there is significant interest from investors to back the next generation of feminine hygiene products with over $40M invested in the space already across the 3 competitors above.

With the market seeing increased investment activity but still early in the investment cycle, we think Tampon Tribe is nicely positioned to capitalize on this investment trend partly because investors likely see the opportunity for sizeable acquisitions in this space down the road.

Tampon Tribe saw revenue just under $25k in Q2-18, which was a 43% increase from Q1-18 and a 518.33% increase from Q2-17, well in line with a pre-seed to seed investment. They are proving product market fit zt $10 per box.

Additionally, at this price point, the company receives a 55% profit margin and is targeting a move to 60% and above as it continues to scale. Not only is the business sustainably minded from a product standpoint but also from a business standpoint.

The company works with a $15 CAC at its current LTV, and the CEO expects LTV to continue to grow as they collect more data and make improvements to customer retention strategy through using funding to develop the company’s UX/UI.

Lola is the main competitor that Tampon Tribe faces, with the highest valuation as indicated by the fact that it has raised over $35.2M in funding since it began in 2015. Lola also currently offers a sleeker UX/UI for online customers compared to Tampon Tribe.

However, with new-age feminine hygiene brands positioned to capture market share away from established incumbents and an overall trend in consumer behavior among young adults favoring socially and environmentally conscious companies, Tampon Tribe has the potential to grow to compete with Lola.

The recent move from Walgreens to take a minority stake in beauty subscription box brand Birchbox also demonstrates how subscription boxes can offer a strategic competitive advantage to traditional retailers that target a growing pool of customers who seek quality, customization and convenience.

Unilever’s billion dollar acquisition of the Dollar Shave Club also sparked other consumer goods producers like P&G to enter the subscription box space with Gillette on Demand. There is potential for small subscription box companies that show promising growth and provide direct channels to target customers to exit through acquisition by large incumbents that seek to modernize their product lines and approach to distribution.