During the past decade or more, the growing acceptance and use of sexual pleasure toys have led to them being stocked and marketed in more mainstream retail channels – both offline and online. 

That trend has been recognised by Australian-founded sexual health and wellness brand Moments which this month is launching its own range of sexual pleasure toys.  

It may seem a big leap for a condom brand – currently sold online and in Coles – to expand into pleasure toys, but for Moments MD Nikhil Daftary, it’s a logical and timely leap. 

“Our mission has always been to empower women to take control of their sexual health, and sexual wellness is a part of that,” he explains to Inside Retail. “Creating a range of toys that aim to promote good sexual wellness, and thus health, is a natural evolution of our brand as we continue to promote health, empowerment, and play. Moments wants to own the sexual health and wellness space.

“As a brand, it’s important to us to ensure that we’re covering all aspects of sexual health and sexual wellness including condoms, pleasure toys and lubricants. The new pleasure toy range is just the beginning, we have plans to grow the whole sexual health and wellness category.”

For the past five years Moments has focused on highlighting the importance of protecting sexual health, but now, Daftary explains, it is time to put pleasure back on the agenda in a  market sector that he believes has historically overlooked women. 

“Pleasure is of equal importance to sexual health. So a women’s pleasure was the focus of our range – each toy has been carefully designed to ensure maximum enjoyment.”

As a brand, he says, Moments has three core values: health, empowerment and play. “We prioritise female pleasure, sustainability, and shame-free sex education.”

The future of the sexual pleasure toys category is huge. Research house Grandview estimates the global market was worth US$32.7 billion last year and projects it will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 8.5 per cent from this year through to 2030. 

Part of that growth is widely attributed to toys being more openly referenced in popular films and television series – a trend dating back to the US comedy series Sex and the City way back in 1998, and Charlotte’s infamous addiction to her pink Rabbit. 

“Women, as well as couples, are experimenting more and more with sex toys to help enhance sexual experiences,” explains Daftary, adding they have a number of medical benefits. 

“They are helpful in the treatment of menopausal symptoms and neurological conditions such as lack of arousal.” 

While awareness and acceptance of sex toys is far more prevalent today, Daftary says there is still a long way to go in achieving broad understanding and normalisation of them. 

“For the industry to grow even further, we need to stop judging people for using them and encourage more open conversations about the use of sex toys.” 

That residual stigmatisation does present challenges in marketing and promoting such products. 

“From a marketing and advertising perspective, some places are still reluctant to promote sexual health products. For example, securing advertising on billboards has historically been challenging for us and met with hesitation.” 

For the launch of the new toy range, the company has managed to secure billboard space and will use these to promote the products, along with influencers who have come on board to promote them in social media campaigns. 

“We are also in talks with a couple of sexologists about jointly creating some education pieces around sexual health and wellness,” says Daftary. 

When the company decided to expand into toys, it set out to develop its own unique range that is conveniently compact – and that would appeal especially to Gen-Z consumers. “This is why we chose bold packaging, bright colours, and carefully selected names for each product.” Those names include Vibin’, Mood, CEO and Baddie, which range in price from $75 to $120.

Daftary says the toys are made with high-grade soft silicone, rather than latex, which the company believes is essential to ensuring the best possible experience from both health and pleasure perspectives. 

While most of Moments products are sold online – both on its own e-commerce site and via Amazon – Daftary says the brand’s presence is increasing its presence in brick-and-mortar retail stores through retail partnerships. 

He hopes the growing acceptance of pleasure toys will lead to more retailers embracing its products, giving customers the opportunity to see the products first-hand, perhaps feeling more comfortable buying them.