PASADENA, Calif.—Educating customers about what toys are green, eco-friendly or even safe to put in or around their bodies starts with manufacturers educating the retailers, according to panelists at the What’s In Your Sex Toy/Lube? panel at the AVN Novelty Expo on Thursday.
Touching on everything from how the industry can regulate itself to ensure the highest quality ingredients are used in lubes and pleasure products to why greener products might cost more and what the threshold is for price, Brian Chossek of Aloe Cadabra noted that he can’t change retailers and consumers who don’t want to change, but he can equip them with the tools and knowledge to make more informed decisions.
“What if I could give you a lubricant with fewer chemicals and a lubricant with more chemicals—which would you choose?” Richie Harris of pjur questioned audience members. When their response was that performance and price needed to be considered, he suggested that both products work the same, but that the greener lubricant cost more.
“What if they price difference were 10 percent? Twenty percent? Thirty percent?” he asked.
Retailers need to be made aware that greener lubes and products will cost more for purer products, but that they are worth it in the long run.
“We need green-friendly customers to be willing to put their money where their mouth is,” said Jennifer of Pleasure Technologies.
Shaye Saldana of STEME, which represents brands like Fun Factory USA and Bijoux Indiscrets, urged retailers to quiz their distributors and manufacturers about ingredients used and the quality of their products.
“If you see something and it’s sweating inside the packaging and when you open it, it stinks to high heaven, why would you suggest it?” he said. “I am amazed that retailers are still stocking those products on their shelves.”
When the discussion turned to the industry regulating itself to raise the bar on ingredients, panelists noted that it would most likely need to be demanded by retailers and consumers.
“If that were to happen, it would probably remove a lot of products from the shelves,” Jennifer said. “Why would manufacturers regulate their ability to make money?”
The seminars at ANE are sponsored by Sinrex. ANE continues through Saturday at the Pasadena Convention Center. For more information, visit AVNNoveltyExpo.com.
