FLO
Tara Chandra (right) and Susan Allen are the co-founders of FLO – a UK-based organic and natural femcare brand whose mission is to make people confident and empowered about their messiest bodily moments. “In December 2013, Susan and I were chatting in the university between classes,” says Chandra. “We often talked about how we wanted to start a socially impactful business. This, combined with my observation that ‘I can’t find organic tampons anywhere in London’, was the ‘aha’ moment behind our decision to start FLO.”
Their first step was to see if there was a demand in the UK for a strong commercially branded organic feminine hygiene brand. “We both did the Executive Global Master’s in management at LSE’s Department of Management and my dissertation took the shape of FLO consumer research,” says Chandra. “We did focus groups and surveys in order to discover FLO’s target demographic and ideal branding so our belief in FLO, which was founded on our passion and intuition, was now rooted in market evidence.”
When it came to the packaging they were inspired by bright and colourful designs and wanted to stand out. “The idea for tampons in an ice cream tub was inspired by periods themselves!” says Chandra. “We took inspiration from food packaging, and then it just clicked: sweets-inspired packaging would not only be a fun nod to period cravings, but it was also a way for us to send a message that period products shouldn’t have to be discreet and tucked away at the bottom of the shopping basket in shame.”
In 2017 FLO was born and initially they approached local shop owners who became their first stockists but knew they couldn’t do this with the bigger retailers. “We looked buyers up on LinkedIn, sent emails and eventually secured meetings to discuss things in more detail,” she says. They are now stocked in Planet Organic, Whole Foods and Boots and are amenity supplier to the LSE, WeWork and Huckletree. “Nowadays, retailers and stockists often reach out to us, which is such a wonderful feeling that never gets old,” says Chandra.
Since then FLO have been making products for periods as safe, comfortable, eco-friendly and fun as possible. Their 100% organic cotton tampons come in non-applicator and plant-based sugarcane applicator styles, while the brand's pads and liners are made from organic Oeko-Tex® bamboo with biodegradable, plant-based wrappers. “We wanted to open a conversation about shame and stigma, and let people know that it’s okay to talk about our messiest natural bodily moments,” says Chandra. “Our packaging was an amazing, fun gateway to a much-needed conversation.”
It was important to Chandra and Allen that, from the get go, they donate 5 per cent of profits to charities supporting girls and women in need, and initially thought they would have to pick corporate charitable partners to do so, but through networking they discovered that was not the case. “We met Orchid Project at a women’s art night and were introduced to the founder of Bloody Good Period by a friend who worked at Amnesty International,” says Chandra. “We loved that both organisations were based in London and could work with us closely to set up donation arrangements” she adds.
This year sees FLO launch their natural sensitive bladder care line, glo to tackle incontinence and little leaks. “We’ll soon be launching our sensitive bladder care line on our website, in letterbox-friendly subscription format and at the same time we’re working on extending the FLO core range to include more absorbencies and fit more FLOs,” says Chandra. “We’re also getting ready to launch XO! – our sexual wellness range. We’re also working on a partnership with Netflix’s Sex Education show, which will probably go in stores in summer 2021, and of which we’re extremely proud and excited. Our hope is to become an empowering one-stop-shop ‘for everything below the belt’!