SHUARI NAIDOO – MORAKA MENSTRUAL CUPS
Small Business + Community
Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
In 2019, I started Moraka Menstrual Cups under the Young Enterprise Scheme. My mission is to sell affordable, sustainable and cost-effective period products that counter the issue of menstrual taboo and period poverty in society.
Taking up business studies in year 12 changed my life in an unexpected and remarkable way. Through business studies, I was introduced to the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), an organisation for students across New Zealand to create and operate a business. I came up with Moraka Menstrual Cups, a business and social enterprise to provide an affordable, sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to disposable period products.
Menstrual cups are compact, discreet and reusable. Lasting up to 10 years, they can save the environment from about 500 tonnes of disposable period products. It’s estimated that in over 10 years, a cup could save a person approximately $3,600 to $4,800. Menstrual cups hold more flow than pads and tampons and only need changing about every 4–8 hours (depending on the heaviness of flow). The price of a menstrual cup can range from $30 to $90, but Moraka Menstrual Cups are $20 each.
The stigma surrounding periods has a very disturbing consequence: period poverty. People who can’t afford disposable sanitary products may use other unsuitable alternatives such as socks, plastic bags or even bleed through their clothes. People who can’t afford basic period products to adequately manage their periods may miss out on their education and other important opportunities. One in five New Zealanders and 16 per cent of Maori youth have experienced period poverty. No person should ever have to go without the basics or miss out due to a normal bodily function.
I hope that this business can provide a much-needed product and create a platform for education and to dispel harmful myths. As of 2022 Moraka has distributed over 2000 cups.
