Best, Periodt. has forged its largest retail relationship yet, rolling out to 3,078 CVS stores.
Starting Monday, the pharmacy chain will sell the brand’s regular and high-capacity period cups for $34.99. Best, Periodt.’s two sizes and the hard hygienic cases that come with its cups, a contrast to canvas bags most period cup brands offer, are its key differentiators. When CEO and founder Gayneté Jones decided to switch to period cups to cut down trips to the store to buy disposable period care, she couldn’t find ones big enough for her heaviest flow days.
“The reality is BIPOC women on average have heavier flows,” she says. “They’re two to three times more likely to have fibroids, and the cups on the market just didn’t have enough capacity. Now, you have discs, which have a bit more capacity, but for those of us with super high cervixes, those are really tricky to get in and out as well.”
Prior to entering CVS, Best, Periodt. built a network of 700-plus retailers nationwide, including grocers such as Wegmans. Still, Jones calls the brand’s CVS launch “major.” The process was major, too. Jones’ first meeting with CVS was in January 2023. She gave a 30-minute pitch and was asked to send samples. She met again with CVS in November last year, and Best, Periodt. was approved to launch at the retailer in February this year.
A partnership with a big chain like CVS is an enormous financial undertaking for the bootstrapped brand. Jones divulges Best, Periodt has spent close to $225,000 for the launch. It executed a packaging redesign and increased production and marketing efforts.
The packaging redesign was informed by earlier retail experience impressing upon Jones the need for packaging that stands out on the shelf. Although Best, Periodt.’s bold yellow boxes already stood out in the sea of pink, purple and blue on most period care aisles, Jones says the packaging redesign highlights the brand’s key differentiators—its case and higher capacity—visually and with copy.
At CVS, Best, Periodt. joins a selection of preexisting menstrual cups and discs, including from Saalt, Cora, Diva and Flex. Most options are priced from $32 to $35. CVS is expanding its period care assortment with the tween-focused brand Pinkie as well. It’s introducing $8.99 Small Size Pads, $8.99 Combo Pack of Pads and $9.99 On-The-Go Period Prep Pouch. Pinkie’s CVS rollout follows launches at Target and Walmart.
Pinkie co-founder Sana Clegg said, “Fiona [Simmonds] and I created Pinkie to solve all of the pain points that girls experience during their menstruation journeys so they can feel prepared and comfortable. This expansion with CVS allows us to reach even more of our customers and help them shine with confidence.”
“It’s the genesis of a megabrand.”
Jones is the only full-time employee at Best, Periodt., where she doesn’t intend to take her foot off the gas. “While menstrual cups are our first products, we are by no means a menstrual cup brand,” she says. “It’s the genesis of a megabrand. It is a period care company, a femcare company, and we have other products in the works. Our goal with all of our retailers is to expand our space on retail shelves because we know that, as you walk in, the more space you can take up on a shelf, the more likely someone walking by will stop and look at it.”
Slated for a release later this year, Best, Periodt.’s next product is a cup cleanser. “When you’re coming on shelves, they’re [retailers] pulling someone else off,” says Jones. “And so it’s making sure that, when you’re creating your new products, you’re creating something that your customers can use love and enjoy, but also something that is different from everything they have on shelves.”
The period care category was rocked recently by a bombshell University of California, Berkeley study published in the journal Environment International that discovered tampons of all types contain toxic metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium. Although experts told The New York Times that consumers shouldn’t panic and trash their tampons, some menstrual cup brands are capitalizing on their product safety fears.
Jones points out that Best, Periodt.’s medical-grade silicone products don’t have the same issues, but her biggest takeaway from the study is that additional research is critical. “[We need to] get a real grasp on what this means for our bodies, but we can’t do that until we have the studies. I’m glad it came out,” she says. “I don’t like how some of it was positioned. Even though it’s not my type of product, I do feel for some of the companies because now people are looking at all period care products that have cotton as the enemy, so it’s a scary time for manufacturers.”
Source: Beauty Independent
