When Susan Allen and Tara Chandra launched their period care brand, Here We Flo, they confronted a common challenge in the feminine hygiene market: how to make tampons stand out amid crowded supermarket shelves. Their innovative approach was to package tampons inside ice cream tubs, a strategy aimed at overcoming the stigma and quick decision-making typically associated with period products. Allen explained that consumers often spend only a few seconds choosing these products, so the eye-catching “tampon tub” was designed to encourage buyers to pause and consider their offering.

This approach helped Here We Flo secure its first major retail listing at Boots in 2019, where the product was dubbed a “trolley magnet” by buyers. Since then, the company’s sales have grown significantly, reaching £10.6 million. The brand’s distinctive pink and white tubs are now available at major UK retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Holland & Barrett, and Superdrug, and the company has expanded into the US market with placements at Whole Foods, Target, and Sprouts Farmers Market.

Allen, originally from St Croix in the US Virgin Islands and raised in Boston, met Chandra at the London School of Economics while pursuing a master’s degree in executive global management. Their shared frustration with the lack of sustainable, organic period products in the UK prompted them to develop a brand that emphasized health, sustainability, and a feminist, candid voice. After graduating in 2015, they refined their business concept while working other jobs and eventually launched Here We Flo in 2017 by hand-delivering 6,000 tubs to health food stores in London’s Hackney and Islington areas, alongside direct sales through their website.

Recognising that period care often falls into habitual, convenience-driven purchasing—similar to soap or toiletries—the founders focused on gaining supermarket shelf space rather than subscription models. Allen noted that many consumers are uncertain about when their periods will start or how much they spend, often purchasing on impulse during routine shopping trips.

The company, which now employs 32 women, has also integrated strong social values into its business model. Here We Flo donates 5 percent of its profits to charities supporting women’s health causes, including the Endometriosis Foundation and the Orchid Project, which works to end female genital mutilation. It has also contributed over 200,000 pads to organisations addressing period poverty such as Menstruation Matters.

Early funding challenges included skepticism from male investors unfamiliar with the period product market. The founders relied initially on crowdfunding, raising over £14,000 on Kickstarter in 2017 and securing angel investments. By 2025, Here We Flo attracted a £3 million investment from Andy Bell, founder of AJ Bell, and his colleague Fergus Lyons, signalling growing confidence in the brand.

Transparency has been a key feature of Here We Flo’s market positioning. The company lists all ingredients on its website—100 percent organic cotton for tampons, regenerative rubber in condoms, and bamboo and corn fibre in pads. However, it faced challenges related to green marketing claims when competitors Mooncup and &Sisters filed complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority and Competition and Markets Authority. Here We Flo subsequently removed the claim that it was “plastic-free,” noting that it had already been adjusting its branding to reflect these concerns.

Beyond product innovation, the brand is actively working to destigmatize periods through campaigns such as one with Chelsea Women’s Football Club. As part of this collaboration, players wore shorts featuring blood stain designs to challenge taboos and highlight findings that 80 percent of girls feel ashamed of leaking in public, while 90 percent believe periods are rarely represented accurately in advertising.

Allen has expressed a personal commitment to changing perceptions, sharing that she openly discusses periods with her son and daughter, viewing such conversations as critical to breaking long-standing societal discomfort. She recalled how simply producing a tampon in public once elicited discomfort and how much attitudes have since evolved, underscoring Here We Flo’s mission to foster openness and normalize conversations about menstruation.