It saddens us to share the news of the passing of a loyal, old friend of ours, Gygel N9 spermicide.
Personally I have been distributing it for over 15 years, since it was a wee baby in a 30 gramme tube, until it was a fully grown-up larger version of itself, weighing in at 81 grammes.
The go-to spermicide in the UK for several decades and available on prescription with the NHS, Gygel was a Nonoxynol 9 (N9) based product. Super efficient at breaking down the cell walls of sperm, yet at the same time just as efficient as breaking down the cell walls of the user’s skin. That equated to itchiness.
As with so many old timers, something newer, younger and fresher popped up to edge it towards obsolescence.
ContraGel Green was quietly biding it’s time in the background, out in Northern Europe earning itself a steady reputation as an alternative to N9 based spermicides. With a base of Lactic Acid rather than N9 to make it a reliable “diaphragm gel”, ContraGel avoids any itchiness issues. Introduced into the UK by RDO Medical in 2010 it began to draw attention to itself as a ‘natural’ and vegan alternative to Gygel, becoming better known as just ContraGel.
Around 2015 ContraGel had a major boost when it was repackaged as Caya Gel, to sit nicely alongside the newly launched Caya diaphragm, the revolutionary, single-sized diaphragm which brought diaphragms within easier reach of many want-to-be users. With the historical reliability of ContraGel and the heavy weight marketing of Caya Gel, the end of days was nearing for Gygel.
Often overlooked is the fact that Gygel is a recipe, a brand, an intellectual property, which can be traded, licensed or manufactured by different companies in different factories. Looking back I can see changes in the manufacturer’s details on older Gygel packaging as manufacturing and distribution agreements appear to have changed over time.
Later on supply problems emerged, I remember calling around so many suppliers and wholesalers to source Gygel, from different batch numbers and expiry dates i worked out that a batch of Gygel was being produced, dropped into the market and then no more would be made for about a year. Personally I think that this contributed towards it’s demise as end users and retailers were forced to switch to an alternative and maybe never switched back when a new batch was produced.
The switch was to ContraGel and Caya Gel. Health centers, GPs, FPA clinics and end users began to switch, the demand for Gygel dropped to the point where profitable production would have become questionable, gaps in production increased and eventually it disappeared.
We contacted the manufacturer directly and they confirmed the news, Gygel has been discontinued.
As with all passings, after a moment of mourning we must look to the future.
If you are a diaphragm user, a health center, a Midwife or a FPA clinic and you need a contraceptive gel for your diaphragms or cervical caps then get in touch with ContraGel.co.uk or Caya.co.uk.
For two decades David has been the owner and director of several marketing and distribution companies. During this time he has learned the indisputable benefits of looking after customers, colleagues, workers, suppliers and the local community, treating them all as respected stakeholders in a common project. Recently he consolidated his personal beliefs and business ethics by founding the Natural Intimacy brand and developing it as an Ethical Company.
