Today I went to London to the Natural and Organic Trade Show at the Grand Hall, Olympia, London.

Thank you so much to Kate at Femmecup for thinking of Feminine Wear, and sending 2 free tickets to the show.

I was blown away by the sheer size of the place, a vast room with very high ceilings, holding many trade stands. The show was only open to trade visitors so it was an ideal venue to network and talk about my business, as well as finding out about other businesses.

The beauty of this show – all businesses exhibiting were organic, fairtrade and natural. I loved it.

I hunted out Femmecup first as I knew the number of their stand from the free tickets. The room was split into sections so I headed off to the Natural Health Section and found Femmecup. Here is a photo of me with Kate, it was so lovely to meet her.

Meeting Kate from Femmecup

I then had a mooch around and chatted with some other like-minded businesses.

I really wanted to be able to stock every product there but my business is a niche market, selling only reusable menstrual products – menstrual cups and cloth pads, and related accessories, so had to draw the line somewhere. I can’t sell every cream and lotion on the market, although it would be lovely to be able to. Some of them smelled so gorgeous!

I came across the Natracare stand and had a chat with the exhibitor. I said that I would love to sell the Natracare Feminine Wipes, and came away with a trade price list.

Then I came across something that will stay in my mind forever. Tea. But not just any tea. This was Flora Tea and I stood watching it for ages. A small, shrivelled, dried up flower was placed into a large wine glass. The exhibitor poured boiling hot water onto the “flower” and we watched in awe as the flower gently unfolded into a flower submersed within the water. I have hunted out this video to show you. Amazing isn’t it? I’m wondering whether to stock the Lily Fairy Tea on Feminine Wear, what do you think? It contains Jasmine to regulate the female menstrual cycle.

Then I headed for the Mooncup stand and met Éowyn and Eileen from Mooncup, obviously posing for a quick impromptu photoshoot while I was there! I have communicated with both of them by email over the years and it was great to meet them and put faces to names.

Meeting Éowyn and Eileen from Mooncup

Then finally we walked the organic food aisle, which was full of sweet-smelling treats to sample and look at.

I tried Beetroot Juice, dried apple chips, coconut water (lots of it), Nak’d bars and oven baked garlic. I have a particular passion for garlic so I had to try the black, slow roasted garlic. It was a different taste to normal garlic and I fell in love with it. I stayed at that stand for a while chatting to the exhibitor. I love Black Garlic! The exhibitor seemed really interested in reusable menstrual products, too.

A quick last stop for some free Green and Black’s Organic chocolate and then we called it a day.

A fabulous day, I met some new contacts, told people about Feminine Wear, linked in with a couple of wholesale companies. I met Femmecup and Mooncups representatives and came away with a bag of free stuff.

Now time for a well-earned glass of wine!