KUALA LUMPUR: Karex Berhad, the world’s largest manufacturer of condoms, wants to inject some pleasure into the business.
Condoms have primarily been used as a contraceptive and also as a protection against disease. Karex feels it is time to move to another level – where a condom is associated with pleasure.
In the last 25 years, company chief executive Goh Miah Kiat told Forbes, the public perception of condoms has evolved.
The Forbes report said condom design had changed little in the last 50 years and that the sector was ripe for new ideas.
It noted that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had called for the development of a “next-generation condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use.”
Karex’s recent acquisition of TheyFit was part of that thinking, said the report.
Built on the premise that condom sizes should be as varied as bra sizes, TheyFit offers customers a downloadable, printable measuring tool – for both length and width — from which guys can figure out which of the 95 sizes fits them best.
A better fit means more pleasure. This fall TheyFit will be rebranded as myONE Perfect Fit condoms, marrying the marketing of ONE with the snugness of TheyFit.
“People want to use condoms today, but they also want to feel it’s not there,” Goh was quoted as saying.
Karex wants to acquire and build its own stable of brands in efforts to put the pleasure into condoms.
Apart from TheyFit, Karex recently bought UK condom-maker Pasante, which supplies the National Health Service, Tesco and Costco; and US condom brand ONE, known for its hip, arty packaging and young customer profile.
“This strategic shift allows the company to capture more of the industry’s value chain,” Kenneth Yap, who manages the KAF Asia Equities Fund, was quoted as saying. The fund holds Karex shares.
“If they can sell more condoms at 30 cents rather than 3 cents, their already outstanding net profit margins of 20 per cent can be improved further.”
To do that, Karex plans to tap ONE’s branding savvy. The Boston-based brand with the distinctive tubular packaging debuted last year in Malaysia and will soon be on store shelves in Singapore.
Recently, just in time for durian season, ONE introduced a durian-flavoured, studded condom, according to the Forbes report.
Karex expects to make 6 billion condoms this year.
Last year its four factories in Malaysia and Thailand churned out 5 billion condoms – roughly 15 per cent of the world market, mostly for export to more than 120 countries, according to the Forbes report.
About 93 per cent on Karex’s revenue is from condoms. The company also makes catheters, but these are only 4 per cent of sales, as well as ultrasound probe covers and lubricating jelly, which make up 3 per cent.