Our Story
The story of Mooncup (and eventually the MCUK) is one of passion, determination, the power of word-of-mouth, and a generous sprinkling from Lady Luck: from a distant time when revolutionary ideas still went viral in the real world, in real time…
It all started in 1999, with one cyclist sharing the too-well-kept secret of a reusable menstrual cup with another at a Critical Mass Bike Ride in the UK. Early menstrual cups were made of tough rubber, hard to come by & strictly for the adventurous.
In 2000, Eileen (the second cyclist from the beginning of our story), met Su who was travelling around Australia with her husband, young daughter, a bucket and stash of washable nappies. Eileen shared the menstrual cup ‘secret’ with Su. The environmental & practical advantages of a reusable menstrual cup struck a perfect chord with Su. The secret had landed in the right hands. Su and Eileen found themselves in a lifelong friendship and with a purpose that they’d eventually work together for.
On her return to the UK, Su started selling an imported rubber cup to friends and friends-of-friends and soon realised that she wasn’t the only one ready for a better menstrual product.
When friends reported some discomfort and the symptoms of latex allergy, Su realised that the rubber cup wasn’t quite the perfect solution. Her childhood with an entrepreneurial Dad got her inventive spark firing. After extensive research, she came up with a hypoallergenic alternative; medical grade silicone; and, in the Spring of 2002, Mooncup®, the world’s first reusable silicone menstrual cup was born.
Today, the Mooncup is available in over 50 countries around the world and is sold as the MCUK in the USA. Mooncup Ltd continues to pioneer as an employee owned business with an ever-growing, dedicated team. Thankfully, the Mooncup menstrual cup is no longer a secret, with millions of us freed from using tampons and pads. Happy Mooncup users continue to spread the word: it seems word-of-mouth has a certain traction with us menstruating folk – especially when we’ve a life-changing story to share!
Here are some of the key moments in the business’ s story:
Su and her daughter, Eve, Boonoo
Boonoo National Park, Australia
The Mooncup® is born!
Friend told me and leafleting begins.
The Mooncup stall, Glastonbury Festival,
Green Futures Field
The first retailer to stock the Mooncup
on-shelf: Infinity Foods, Brighton
The first of many awards! Mooncup wins Best
Non food product at Natural Trade Show
Su’s one-woman crusade grows
with a team working from Su’s spare room
Spanish grassroots movements start
to spread the word.
Mooncup’s popularity in Europe is growing –
Multi-lingual materials
Pharmacy giant, Boots, stock Mooncup®
due to customer demand
Mooncup Ltd launches a unique
advice service run by nurses
The team grows and moves to
new premises
Respected Spanish responsible
consumerism magazine features
the Mooncup®.
First full-page Broadsheet coverage –
The Times Newspaper
UK humanitarian charity
Grassroots supports Tanzanian
women with Mooncup
Italy – Mooncup becomes a national
talking point after Beppe Grillo’s ‘Reset’
tour and rubbish strikes in Naples
Screen powerful period documentary,
The Moon Inside You, to sold out
audiences at Brighton Fringe Festival.
Love Your Vagina campaign hits
the London Underground to great
social media buzz
MCUK® launched for US customers*
* due to another company
trademarking Mooncup in US.
The UK is encouraged to Love its
Beaches and vaginas.
Celebrate 10th Birthday with friends
Mooncup Ltd becomes officially
Employee Owned
Still bigger premises needed
After lots of hard work we’re
ISO 13485 Certified
The year the taboo is broken
