Tampon shortage is the latest nightmare for women

Women will receive free menstrual supplies 0:42

New York (CNN Business) --

Supply chain problems and inflation have hit virtually all consumer goods, but menstruating women are now facing added stress as shortages hit. menstruation to the United States.

Major retailers and manufacturers acknowledged the shortages this week, confirming complaints that have been circulating on social media for months.

The issue grabbed national attention this week after an article in Time called the shortage of tampons and sanitary napkins the "no one's talking about" shortage.

"I haven't seen any products in stores in months," one user posted on Reddit.

"I've been ordering my tampons from Amazon and they've been ripping me off on the price."

Tampon prices have risen significantly — nearly 10% from a year ago, according to Bloomberg.

But an Amazon spokesman shot down rumors of gouging pricing, saying its policies "help ensure sellers price their products competitively," and that the company actively monitors prices and removes offers that violate its policy. of fair prices.

• The menstrual cup is an effective and environmentally friendly option, according to researchers

The shortage appears to stem from supply constraints around key materials such as cotton and plastic, which are also used in personal protective equipment, and which have been in high demand since the start of the pandemic.

The war in Ukraine has made supply even more difficult, as both Russia and Ukraine are big exporters of fertilizer, which is used to grow cotton.

The drought in Texas hasn't helped either.

Raw material shortages and supply chain bottlenecks aren't unique to period products, but like the US infant formula shortage, there's a relentless and urgent biological demand that can't be replaced easily.

Menstruating people can't just wait for shelves to be restocked.

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"Getting raw materials and packaged goods to the places we need to go remains expensive and highly volatile," Andre Schulten, Procter & Gamble's chief financial officer, said in a recent earnings call.

When Time asked Procter & Gamble, which owns popular Tampax and Always brands, about the shortage, a company spokesman blamed increased demand linked to an ad campaign starring comedian Amy Schumer.

Since the ads launched in July 2020, "retail sales growth has skyrocketed," the spokesperson told Time.

Of course, blaming the Schumer ads doesn't explain why other brands are also hard to come by.

A P&G representative told CNN Business Thursday that the Tampax team is "producing tampons 24 hours a day to meet increased demand."

"We understand that it's frustrating for consumers when they can't find what they need," the P&G spokesman said in an email.

"We can assure you that this is a temporary situation."

As headlines circulated over Schumer's comment this week, the comedian, who has spoken publicly about her hysterectomy last year, responded with a quip on social media.

"Hey, I don't even have a uterus," she wrote on Instagram Thursday below a screenshot of a headline that read, "Why Amy Schumer is being blamed for a national tampon shortage."

Schumer's representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Both Walgreens and CVS said they are aware of shortages of tampons and other period products in some areas and are working with their suppliers to make sure they can be replenished as soon as possible.

• America needs more infant formula.

  This is the reason why it is so difficult to manufacture

The tampon shortage bears an uneasy parallel to the infant formula shortage, largely because of the unhelpful responses offered by men who are not directly affected.

In both cases, the women say they are bombarded with comments, some of which offer genuine help, while others are filled with outrage at the women's alleged biological shortcomings.

"If we could imagine a world in which men had to breastfeed their babies... formula shortages would not be so dire," journalist Elizabeth Spiers wrote in an opinion essay for The New York Times.

"In that alternate reality...formula would not be stigmatized because it's an option that men would like to have available to them."

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