In the past year, NIINE Sanitary Napkins has made waves higher than a tsunami. Since part of the visionary company is connected to Kanpur, we thought to take a more in-depth look into it.
Shudh Plus Hygiene Products manufactures Niine with Amar Tulsiyan, Gaurav Bathwal, and Sharat Khemka as its Directors. The company that was incorporated in June 2016 started with a manufacturing unit in Gorakhpur. Today, it has expanded enough to appoint Richa Singh as CEO, a woman who has worked with names like P&G, Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola & Tara Singh Chahar as National Sales Head who has also worked with P&G.
Their Awe-Inspiring Vision Of Niine
The topic of menstrual hygiene is still a taboo in India. You know that, and we know that. Why else does it still have ten thousand monikers like Aunty Flow, that-time-of-the-month and chumming!
Niine broke through this "hush-hush" sentiment like a wrecking ball through their vision: "to make Sanitary Napkins for Indian women affordable and quality personal hygiene solutions."
To achieve this vision, they launched a low-cost sanitary pad. A pack can be bought for as low as Rs.25. (Check this, the absolutely affordable price tag made the big-wigs slash their prices!)
The Niine Movement
Take a peek:
To take it a step further, the company launched an audacious five-year plan that not only educates everyone (and we mean men, women, and teenagers) on the tabooed issue but also engages them. Their lofty, but achievable, goal is to involve people and remove the stigma around menstruation.
What's their long-term objective? One, to make sure that every female can manage her periods hygienically by making pads more accessible. Two, to bridge the massive chasm between the number of women who use rags, hay or even ash during menses and the number who use pads.
What more have they done?
What We Love About Niine
Niine Pads is braving a market that is dominated by giants such as Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. At present, the two multinationals own 85% of the sanitary napkin's market. Penetrating the segment is considered impossible. What Niine has done is almost magical.
In a short year, it has expanded distribution from its home state of Uttar Pradesh to Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, national capital region and more. The cherry on the cake is that they've accomplished it mostly through their own accruals and bank debt.
We give the home-grown challenger a massive shout out not just for raising their voices on a topic rarely spoken of but doing it so well too!
