Meet the B Corp Behind Making Women’s Health Visible at Zoku, And Beyond

At Zoku, we believe that business can be a force for good. As a certified B Corp, we see the value in working with other impact-driven partners, because we go further when we go together. Zoku recently partnered up with Yoni, a supplier of sustainable period products, available for use in the bathrooms at Zoku Amsterdam, and for purchase at the (Almost) Everything Store, and is a fellow B Corp.

In light of B Corp Month, a time each year in March to celebrate and reflect on our role as a B Corp, and International Women’s Day, on 8 March, we spoke with Lieselotte van Belle, Supply Chain Manager, and Rosa de Jong, B2B Account Manager and Business Development, at Yoni about the brand’s vision and impact, the role that partnerships with brands like Zoku plays in realizing that, and how that supports shared values of socially and environmentally sustainable business.

Yoni is undoubtedly a mission-driven organization. Tell more about that mission.

Rosa: Offering period products in every space with a toilet should be just as normal as offering toilet paper. People who menstruate during their lifetime make up 50% of the population, and supporting them is crucial to making spaces inclusive for everyone. At Yoni, we’re working towards this mission daily, through three main, tangible streams. We set out to make period products that are safe to use and accessible; that are as sustainable as possible, considering that a menstruator throws away up to 15,000 products in their lifetime; and that make a positive social impact by advocating for the normalization of menstruation in cultural discourse and through addressing period poverty.

Lieselotte: Certifications like B Corp and GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) help verify key metrics that reiterate our mission and commitment to social and environmental sustainability, and ensure that our impact is measurable. Our products are made from organic cotton throughout the entire production chain, adhere by tight environmental guidelines like following organic farming practices, not using GMOs or toxic inputs, and complying with strict wastewater and chemical management. Yoni’s products also champion social purposes, like upholding safe working conditions and the fair treatment of workers.

Beyond the clear mission of Yoni’s products, what else is Yoni doing to make a positive impact as a B Corp?

Rosa: Besides providing safe and sustainable menstruation products, Yoni actively works with NGOs such as Stichting Armoedefonds, Neighborhood Feminists, Tafel Deutschland and In Kind Direct to tackle period poverty. Period poverty is the inability to afford menstrual products, which can affect one’s ability to work or go to school, and heightens stigma surrounding menstruation. We also actively support academic research projects in partnership with universities to develop innovative products that prevent health problems in women or help women better understand their health status.

Zoku is built around connection and helping people feel supported while living and working away from home. How do you see access to menstrual care in shared spaces, especially professional and public ones, contributing to women’s confidence, participation and sense of belonging?

Rosa: Period products are a basic need; people have no control over when and where they menstruate. It is so important that places like Zoku understand that and offer menstrual care as part of their policy. Research shows that 89% of women at the office feel stressed and uncomfortable at work during their period. The feedback we get from women whose employers decided to offer Yoni period products in the toilets is heartwarming. They express feeling seen and welcomed. Such a small and practical gesture of providing pads and tampons makes them feel supported in working there.

As certified B Corps, Yoni and Zoku believe that business can be a force for good. How does our partnership bring this vision to reality?

Lieselotte: Yoni is breaking many of the taboos surrounding women’s health. We’re trying to reach as many women as possible by making period products available in offices through partnerships with other like-minded brands and in public places with our dispensers.

Rosa: This is exactly why it’s so important to find like-minded businesses with the same values on sustainability and social impact. Together, we have a larger scope and influence, and together we are the change-makers. It shows how business can be done in a sustainable, inclusive way and with a positive, tangible societal impact. Beyond the immediate impact, it will have a ripple effect on doing business for good. The more businesses start working this way, the more it will become a norm to incorporate impact from the get-go when building a business, rather than something to add later.

International Women’s Day is about making progress visible and accelerating it. In Yoni’s world, what does real progress in women’s health look like, especially in workplaces and public spaces, and what still needs to change next?

Rosa: If we want women to be truly included in the workforce, we need to start paying attention to their basic needs. Menstruation is something women deal with every month and can cause a lot of stress or problems when not supported in the right way. The taboo around the topic is something I really would like to see fading away as soon as possible because it’s a natural and universal part of life for half of the global population.

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Want to know more about how Zoku is making a difference? Read more about our impact initiatives:

B Corp

Sustainability