Say it with latex

Today, 60% of condom consumers are male and 40% female. Unimil is the leader, with 65% of the market.
By : Celia Barnes

   Unimil, Poland’s sole condom manufacturer, just carved another notch in its economic headboard: the penetration of yet another conquest – Russia.

   Corny condom puns aside, it’s a deal that means $500,000 for the latex giant that already exports its European Union (EU)-approved range of prophylactics to Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Hungary.

   According to Unimil’s president, Grzegorz Winogradski, the pursuit of Russia has been a case of unrequited love for some years, with Unimil cautious of its sometimes-fickle mistress.

   “The market in Russia is not so easy as it was 10 or five years ago,” Winogradski said. “Nowadays there are so many suppliers and brands and products. Plus, it’s not such an easy market to get money back from.”

   That’s where Lehmann Pharma comes into this financial ménage  trois: The German company will be handling the distribution, marketing and advertising of Unimil condoms, which will hit Russian stores at the end of this month. And best of all, Winogradski said the deal guarantees Unimil will get its money back. He’s hoping that ultimately it will develop in to a long and beautiful relationship.

   “Russia is an attractive market for us because it’s very big with 150 million people and secondly, it’s a developing market,” Winogradski said. “And the consumer profile is very similar to what we have in Poland, but with a delay of about four years.”

   So who bought Polish condoms in the 1990s? Winogradski said that a decade ago, 80% of consumers were male and 20% female. Back then, a pack of three Durex condoms cost $1.50, and 50 cents for the Unimil equivalent. Not like the good ol’ days under communism, when a pack of 20, poor-quality, state-made rubber Johnnies took 25 cents out of Jacek’s pocket (and about 10 years off his life when one of them burst).

   Today, 60% of condom consumers are male and 40% female. Unimil is the leader, with 65% of the market. The company has an exotic range of products that includes the premium “Special Selection” prophylactic, its “New Caress Series,” “Conamore Series,” the perfumed “Frutti di Amore Series” with tempting flavors such as banana, raspberry and strawberry, the “Lust Series,” and for everyday use, the “Home Series.”

   By 1997, Unimil was doing so well it launched on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), and last year Europe’s largest manufacturer of condoms, Condomi, snapped up the majority of Unimil’s shares.

   Sales have skyrocketed since. Last year, Unimil sold 100 million condoms, earning zł. 21 million ($4.1 million) in gross profit. Comparable sales for 2001 are already up 30%.

   So why are Poles and their Central and Eastern European neighbors using more Unimil condoms than ever before?

   “Now we have a new generation of customers,” Winogradski said. “These people don’t remember socialism. They know MTV. They know everything. Mentally they live in a united Europe. The relationship between them and sex and condoms is absolutely different compared to 10 years ago.”