Empowering women with eco-friendly products
In May, the female-founded company Attn: Grace announced the launch of their sustainably sourced incontinence products in 1,574 Walmart doors nationwide and on Walmart.com. Drug Store News caught up with co-founder and CEO Alexandra Fennell to discuss the brand’s momentum, and why creating an eco-friendly product for women with incontinence was top of mind for the company.
Drug Store News: How did the partnership with Walmart come to fruition? Does the brand intend on expanding to other mass retailers?
Alexandra Fennell: We’ve known from day one day one that Walmart would be instrumental to our ability to raise awareness around incontinence and increase accessibility to high-performing, skin-safe products women can trust. We’ve been building towards this partnership for years, so making our products accessible to the millions of women who shop at Walmart every day is such a huge milestone for us. As part of our partnership with Walmart, we’re also thrilled to be the first brand in our category to bring 100% recyclable, kraft paper packaging to retail shelves.
We firmly believe that better-for- you products should not be an elite proposition. Launching with Walmart, where our customers will find our products backed by Walmart’s “Everyday Low Price Guarantee,” makes them more accessible than ever.
[Read more: TruBiotics survey: Gen Z, Millennial women most proactive about their health]
DSN: Why is sustainability so important to Attn: Grace?
AF: From the moment the idea behind Attn: Grace was born, Mia [Abbruzzese, co-founder and CEO] and I knew that we wanted to create a product that was high-performing, sourced from clean ingredients, better for our bodies and better for the planet. We also saw an enormous opportunity to drive sustainable innovation forward within a category that has historically generated enormous amounts of waste each year. For context, it takes roughly one cup of crude oil to make a single conventional adult incontinence pad or brief.
Like any other consumer category, women want incontinence products that don’t force them to compromise on product performance or their larger values.
[Read more: Beyond pregnancy care]
They want products that are designed using clean, traceable ingredients, from a brand they can trust, and that they know will perform to the highest standards. By incorporating cutting edge technology into our designs, Attn: Grace is able to replace meaningful amounts of plastic, petroleum and other chemicals with plant-based alternatives. We also replace the synthetic filler traditionally used with 100% FSC Certified wood pulp. The result is a more natural product that women can trust to keep them leak-free without worrying about having harsh chemicals against their skin and while minimizing their environmental impact. Our products are made without synthetic fragrance, dyes, chlorine bleach, BPA, latex, VOC’s, phthalates and parabens.
These might seem like simple changes, but they’ve been game-changing for the thousands of women who have made the switch so far, many of whom have been quietly struggling for years with painful skin irritation caused by the chemicals used in conventional products.
We see our commitment to sustainability as table-stakes in today’s world—it’s essential for businesses and their leaders to prioritize the well-being of our planet. We hope that the ongoing work we’re doing, while currently still at a relatively small scale, inspires others and reaffirms that consumer goods and environmental stewardship can—and in our view, should—go hand in hand.
Our Certified B Corp. status demands conscious decision-making across every aspect of our business and serves as a powerful framework within which we measure our progress towards our larger, longer term goals. We’ve worked hard to select like-minded partners at every step of our supply chain, building sustainable practices into our brand DNA—from replacing petroleum based components with higher-performing, plant- based alternatives, to our 100% Certified CO2 Neutral factories, to our launch into mass retail with 100% kraft paper packaging.
DSN: How can women feel empowered to de-stigmatize incontinence?
AF: A few things come to mind. First and foremost, women need to know that they are not alone in experiencing bladder leaks. According to the Mayo Clinic, 50% of adult women experience urinary incontinence.
Second, women should know that urinary incontinence is often treatable. The sooner women see a doctor or a pelvic floor physical therapist, the sooner they can understand why they are experiencing bladder leaks, and receive recommendations for treatment specific to their particular situation.
Women have historically waited, on average, six years before they reach out to their healthcare professionals to discuss their bladder leaks, which is such a shame, because for many women there are treatments that can help mitigate or eliminate bladder leaks. We created our Resource Library in response to these truths, hoping that women can learn more about their condition, and perhaps reach out to a specialist to explore what treatment might be best for them.
DSN: What types of products does the brand offer for women with incontinence?
AF: Our products are designed so that when worn, only plant-based fibers touch the skin. We’ve seen that for countless women, this creates a vastly improved user experience. We’ve learned that this difference can be even more powerful for women whose skin may be more sensitive due to gynecologic cancer treatments, side effects of MS or diabetes, or simply skin that’s thinning due to aging.
Equally as important as absorption is retention, or how dry a product can stay even after multiple leaks. In the incontinence space, this performance feature is measured by a “re-wet” score. Our re-wet scores are exceptional across our entire product line. Staying drier, longer is meaningful for any woman with incontinence, but it’s particularly game-changing when women with extreme fatigue or mobility challenges are able to change their incontinence liner, pad or brief less frequently without putting their skin health at risk.
Last but not least, athletes appreciate that our incontinence products are as moisture- wicking as the rest of their performance gear. While cotton is a natural fiber that has revolutionized the period space, athletes know that cotton doesn’t effectively wick sweat or pee. The sugarcane-based synthetic fibers in our top sheets are a win-win—tough on leaks and safe on skin.
DSN: Does Attn: Grace intend on expanding the product lineup?
AF: Our customers always have a seat at our table—including how we innovate and expand our product options. For example, when we launched our Ultimate pads, it was a genuine “you asked, we listened” product launch. We will absolutely continue to expand our product lineup to ensure we’re meeting women’s needs and continuing to drive high- performing, more sustainable incontinence care forward.