Tampon shortage reaches Connecticut and it could get worse before it gets better

The scene is the same whether you’re at a CVS in Norwalk, a Target in Trumbull or a Big Y in Branford looking for tampons. Try an independent like Black Rock or Weston Pharmacy and your luck might only improve slightly. Shelves usually stocked with myriad offerings from a range of brands are devoid of tampons as the hygiene products become the latest victim of a supply chain gridlock that’s driving prices and limiting supply. Denise Kazaklaris works at Black Rock Pharmacy and Weston Pharmancy in Fairfield County where she orders product. “It’s been on and off since winter,” she said. “We mostly do lower volume, so I started ordering extra when I saw stock available. But the last two weeks, nothing has been available.” Kazaklaris said a few boxes remain on the shelves, but replenishing might be difficult. The same was true for Natalie Hernandez at the New Britain Pharmacy. Her pharmacy also has a few boxes on the shelves, but she said inventory from brands like Kotex and Tampax is backordered. Procter & Gamble Co., the company that makes Tampax products, said it hopes to restock soon. “We understand it is frustrating for consumers when they can’t find what they need,” a Proctor & Gamble spokesperson told Hearst. “We expect this is a temporary situation, and the Tampax team is producing tampons 24/7 to meet the increased demand for our products. We are working with our retail partners to maximize availability, which has significantly increased over the last several months.” But even major retailers are having issues. Employees at a Big Y in Branford said the problem is growing. They place orders every day, but the few products that come in are gone just as quickly. And at a CVS on West Avenue in Norwalk, shipments have been coming in with less than half of the product it normally gets. The shortage is the latest blow to an already embattled industry and comes amid a baby formula shortage. The Washington Post reported inflation has driven the price of tampons up by 10% this year, while pads have gone up 8%. And a Proctor executive told the New York Times it’s become costly and highly volatile” to get the raw materials like cotton and plastic to manufacture the product. Rosemary Coates, a supply chain consultant, said things could get worse before they get better. She said a 25% tariff on goods coming out of China instituted by the Trump Administration has passed costs onto consumers. And sourcing cotton needed to make tampons could become more difficult this month. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act goes into effect June 21. The act will prevent any goods from Xianjiang China – which produces 80% of the country’s cotton – from entering the United States. The Act rejects goods from Xianjiang unless the manufacturer can prove that products were not made using forced labor. “Usually, we have an anecdote in America that you are innocent until proven guilty,” Coates said. “This is the opposite. This is 100% rejection because it’s believed to be made from forced labor.”