Mint is a WINNER! 2025 Global Recognition Award
The Mint Label has been recognized with a 2025 Global Recognition Award for disrupting the incontinence industry through sustainable innovation and redefining how women experience bladder support products. Founded by Bruna Rodrigues, Mint challenged a market dominated by disposable, uncomfortable products by creating leak proof underwear that combines functionality with design aesthetics typically reserved for lingerie. The company's bamboo-based absorbent technology addresses environmental waste and social stigma, replacing up to 200 single-use pads or liners per garment while restoring confidence to thousands of women across New Zealand and Australia.
Global Recognition Awards evaluates applicants through a rigorous screening process conducted by industry experts, utilizing the Rasch model to create linear measurement scales that enable precise comparisons across different categories of excellence. Mint scored at the highest level across seven critical criteria, including the ability to inspire others, ethical decision-making, fostering innovation, innovation novelty, market impact, addressing global challenges, and disrupting existing paradigms. The company demonstrated world-class achievement in leadership and innovation, earning recognition for contributions beyond commercial success to social and environmental transformation.
Disrupting a Stagnant Market
The traditional incontinence industry operated for decades with minimal innovation, offering products prioritizing basic function over user experience or environmental responsibility. Mint entered this space with a fundamentally different approach, treating bladder leaks as a medical problem requiring clinical solutions and a lifestyle need deserving of thoughtful design. Rodrigues developed leak proof underwear that women would choose to wear rather than tolerate, combining moisture-wicking bamboo fabric with multi-layer absorbent technology that maintains comfort throughout daily activities.
This shift in perspective created immediate market impact. Within its first year of operation, Mint diverted an estimated 250,000 disposable products from landfills while building a customer base that valued sustainability and dignity. The company's product line expanded to include thongs and postpartum designs, demonstrating responsiveness to diverse lifestyle needs without compromising core performance standards. Nationwide delivery and exchange guarantees removed barriers to adoption, making sustainable options accessible regardless of location or economic circumstances.
Building Community Through Transparency
The Mint Label's success extends beyond product innovation to its role in normalizing conversations about bladder health. Rodrigues built an online community where women share experiences without shame or embarrassment, challenging cultural norms that historically relegated incontinence discussions to whispered conversations or medical settings. This approach transformed customers into advocates, creating organic growth through authentic testimonials rather than traditional marketing channels. The community model proved particularly effective for reaching women who had resigned to disposable products, unaware that comfortable alternatives existed.
The company's ethical framework prioritizes transparency in product performance and environmental claims. Each product specifies its replacement value for disposable items, allowing customers to calculate its personal impact on waste reduction. Rodrigues maintained this commitment to honesty while expanding operations, refusing to compromise on materials or manufacturing standards despite pressure to reduce costs. This integrity established trust with consumers who had grown skeptical of greenwashing in the sustainable products sector.
Final Words
The Mint Label's recognition reflects achievement across multiple dimensions of excellence, from technological innovation to social impact. The company demonstrated that tackling global environmental issues can maintain user experience and aesthetic appeal. Rodrigues demonstrated that markets presumed mature and unchangeable remain vulnerable to disruption when innovators question fundamental assumptions about what products should accomplish and how they should make users feel.
The award acknowledges Mint's contribution to sustainability infrastructure and women's empowerment, two priorities that increasingly define consumer expectations across industries. "Mint exemplifies the potential of purpose-driven innovation that simultaneously addresses environmental responsibility and social stigma," said Alex Sterling, spokesperson for Global Recognition Awards. The company's growth trajectory suggests that combining ethical leadership with market-responsive design creates sustainable competitive advantages while delivering measurable benefits to communities and ecosystems.
