The Hello Cup founders to speak at Napier business breakfast

The Hello Cup founders Mary Bond (left) and Robyn McLean. Photo / Supplied

Two business owners who turned a small side project into an international business will be the first speakers at Napier City Council's 2021 Business Breakfast series.

The Hello Cup founders Mary Bond, from Wellington, and Robyn McLean, from Havelock North founded the company on the belief that sustainable period choices are needed.

They had no business background between them, but their small start-up began getting noticed.

American retailer Urban Outfitters emailed out of the blue asking to stock The Hello Cup and they now have US equity partners and more than 150 retailers globally.

The menstrual cup range is manufactured in Napier and was the first menstrual product to win a design award in New Zealand when it won gold at the Best Design Awards last year.

They've recently achieved both Climate Positive and B Corp accreditation, and from March this year Hello Cups have been sold nationwide in all Countdown supermarkets.

The number of Hello Cups sold to date have saved 200 million single-use period products from landfills and waterways around the world.

"Sometimes starting a business is all about just jumping in," McLean said.

"We're looking forward to sharing more about how we built our business from scratch, the mistakes we've made and our plans to be a global leader in sustainable period products."

The two women will be speaking at the series on June 16 at the Napier War Memorial Centre.

Tickets are $30 and be purchased on the napier.govt.nz website by searching keyword #businessbreakfast.