Holland & Barrett to sell sex toys

For generations, Holland & Barrett has been known as a purveyor of natural remedies to improve the nation’s health.

 
Inside a Holland & Barrett shop: Holland & Barrett has bought smaller rival Julian Graves
Performance enhancers: sexual health is one of Holland & Barrett's fastest-growing areas Photo: JUSTIN LEIGHTON

From cod liver oil supplements to herbal teas, the High Street retailer sells myriad products designed to perk up its customers.

The latest addition to its range also aims to do just that. In a move likely to alarm some of its more traditional customers, the firm announced that it is to begin selling sex toys for women.

Shoppers will be able to choose from a selection of ‘intimate massagers’, priced at £49.95 and manufactured by a company called Emotional Bliss. They are currently available online only, under the category of ‘Sexual Health’, but a spokesman said the products could be stocked in stores if sales prove to be brisk.

“We believe sexual wellbeing is an important part of general health, so for us it was an obvious choice to stock Emotional Bliss as their values fit ours,” said Michelle Ingleby, senior buyer for non-food at Holland & Barrett.

Phil Geary, the company’s director of trading, said that sexual health was one of its fastest-growing categories. The recession has led to increased demand for more intimate products, he claimed. “People are spending more time at home during these difficult economic times.”

Paul Telford, a spokesman for Emotional Bliss, said he was delighted that such a prominent High Street chain had chosen to stock the products. “We are over the moon that we are the first company of our kind to be taken up by Holland & Barrett online. It’s brilliant news that a well-established and respected British company like Holland & Barrett is supporting Emotional Bliis, a British manufacturer. We couldn’t be happier.”

Were he alive today, the original founder of the Holland & Barrett chain might not be so thrilled. Samuel Ryder, a Lancashire businessman, was a committed Christian and Sunday school teacher who donated a significant portion of his earnings to his local church.

Mr Ryder, a golf enthusiast who gave his name to the Ryder Cup, founded the company in 1922 to sell herbs and seeds, calling it Heath & Heather. It was renamed Holland & Barrett in 1970 and is now the UK’s largest health food retailer with 850 stores across the country. The new products are among 500 new lines to be introduced by the end of the year.