In 2015, the German entrepreneurs launched a company with the mission to build a fair and sustainable condom. While in the middle of crowdfunding their new business, Siefer and Zeller were hit with a lot of questions over just how eco-friendly their company was going to be.
Waldemar Zeiler, a reformed capitalist, and co-founder of Einhorn, according to The Guardian, confesses he and his co-entrepreneurs knew very little about condoms – apart from as users.
“We kept hearing the same question from people who were donating money,” says Siefer, reports The BBC. “Are the condoms vegan? We didn’t even realize ourselves that condoms usually contain an animal protein to make the latex softer.”
The lads decided to look into the market for eco-friendly condoms, and four years later – Einhorn’s sustainable concept is making headway. last year the company sold more than 4.5 million individual condoms.
And Einhorn condoms retail at around €6 for a pack of seven condoms, and 50 percent of the profits are reinvested. The company’s €5 million ($5.5 million) yearly revenue is proof enough their concept is working.
Earlier this year, Einhorn launched its own range of period products. The tampons are made from 100 percent organic cotton. “We still have to pinch ourselves to realize that it’s still going strong,” says Siefer.
What are vegan condoms>
They don’t make condoms from sheep intestines anymore. However, today’s non-vegan condoms still have an animal product called casein. Casein is a protein found in mammal’s milk and is used to soften latex condoms.
Einhorn leaves out the casein, opting instead for a natural plant-based lubricant. It also takes care to obtain its latex in as environmentally friendly a way as possible.
And while the market for eco-friendly sustainable condoms is still fairly new, Einhorn has found that most of their condoms are bought by people between 20 and 40 years of age, with 60 percent of the purchases being made by women.
Zeiler says: “Everyone has a connection to sex but condoms are still being sold as medical products. The guys in charge of selling these don’t know who’s using them. They’re all like 65 and I don’t think they have sex anymore. Now, this shows how interested they are in who uses their products.
As a side note, in 2013, Glyde became the first North American brand to sell a sustainable condom. The organic Glyde condoms are made of natural latex drawn from renewable plantation trees. There is also not any possibility of cross-contamination during the manufacturing process, according to the webpage.