NEW ORLEANS - The Sequel Spiral tampon by Sequel has been named as the winner of the 2023 Hygienix Innovation Award.
The awarded was announced at INDA's recent edition of Hygienix, the event for absorbent hygiene and personal care markets, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, from November 13-16.
Sequel is described as a new tampon that offers a patented, leak-proof design. Its proprietary spiral design is also designed to be more fluid mechanically efficient, meaning it absorbs fluid more evenly and won’t leak before it’s full.
Created by two high-level athletes and Stanford engineers, Amanda Calabrese and Greta Meyer, Sequel says that its mission is to raise the standard of women’s products with better design and superior technology.
The company also recently received approval from the FDA which marks a critical step in this mission, enabling Sequel to bring its tampon – which is also designed to be more comfortable - to a market that has experienced an influx of private label newcomers in recent years, but which, according to Calabrese and Meyer, offer little product differentiation.
With two granted patents and three patents pending, Meyer and Calabrese, said they were driven by a vision where a better tampon is just the beginning of a movement to raise the standard of women’s products. "We are building the products we wish we had on game day, elevating the standards for products long left behind. With so many things to worry about, a leaking tampon shouldn't be one of them,” the founders said.
The company will now begin a series of consumer trials with commercial availability expected in the first quarter of 2024.
Elsewhere at Hygienix, senior-level leaders enjoyed presentations on a range of key topics affecting the future of absorbent hygiene.
These included
- AHP Trends, Innovation & Market Statistics
- Redefining Absorbent Hygiene: Navigating Consumer Voice, Sustainable Innovations and the Circular Economy
- The Proof Is in the Pudding – Demonstrating What’s Possible in AHP
- Sustainability Inside & Out – Inputs & Packaging
- Words Matter! Shaping Consumer and Industry Thoughts
- Neither Fish nor Fowl: Designing Hybrid AHP Products
- There Be Dragons: Tales of Innovation
New this year to Hygienix was Lightning Talks and pre-conference webinars. Lightning Talks are short presentations covering new trends, products and ideas in absorbent hygiene. The pre-conference webinar topics featured the new Quality Audit Program from INDA and EDANA, an in-depth look at the period care product category, and North American trends and insights in baby diapers.
Back by popular demand was a hands-on workshop providing attendees with information on the various absorption systems used in disposable hygiene products.
This workshop focused on the components and interaction of the absorption system in common commercial hygiene products. The workshop was led by Jim Robinson, Principal, Absorbent Hygiene Insights.
Meanwhile, Jim Robinson received the honor of being named the 2023 INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award winner for his decades of technical advancements that have grown the nonwovens industry. Robinson has 33 years in the absorbent hygiene industry, including 28 years as a Technical Service Manager at BASF. Robinson has extensive knowledge of SAP applications, absorbent core formation, and hygiene article design, performance and testing.
Hygienix 2024 will be held November 18-21, in Nashville, Tennessee at The Renaissance Nashville Hotel.
