FOR FOCUS ISSUE: SUNDAY, FEB. 21

FOR FOCUS ISSUE: SUNDAY, FEB. 21

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Beds-health-trend

Ergonomic mattresses lure customers to healthful sleep

Branded spring and latex mattresses are gaining popularity
among discerning consumers seeking quality, healthful sleep.

"More consumers of the upper class are now aware that there is
a direct link between quality mattresses and healthful sleep,"
said PT Slumberland Indonesia marketing manager Ali Sastro Utomo.

Many consumers make an effort to gather detailed information
on quality mattresses, such as the materials used inside them,
before deciding on a purchase. "Therefore, we provide informative
catalogs or brochures for consumers," he said.

Isye Cecilia, sales executive of the UK's PT Dunlopillo
Indonesia shares Ali Sastro Utomo's view, saying that a survey by
the company recently concluded that many consumers seek
mattresses that puts health first. "They consider quality and the
health effects of a mattress as vital," Isye said.

Consumers no longer see softness as the only criteria for
choosing a mattress, because softness does not necessarily mean
healthy and comfortable, she said.

Even though there are different types of mattresses, such as
spring, foam and latex, quality mattresses allow for shoulder and
hip mobility while providing correct support for the lower back
to prevent negative effects on a sleeper's spine, said an expert
at www.comfortdirect.com.

"The mattresses have to adapt to the anatomy and the
individual requirements of the sleeper to allow one sleeper to
relax and recuperate his or her body," the website quoted the
expert.

The growing consciousness among consumers on healthful sleep
has encouraged mattress producers to focus on health issues in
promoting their products. Health issues are included in the top
lures for potential customers, whether for spring, foam or latex
mattresses.

For instance, Slumberland Indonesia, which produces both
spring and latex mattresses, has developed its Ergopaedic system
highlighting the 12 Body Comfort Zones as remedies for the
increasing health problems faced by people today, such as
sleeping disorders and back and spinal aches.

Ali boasted that an Ergopaedic mattress incorporating the 12
Body Comfort Zones will make sleepers feel refreshed, rested and
healthy upon waking, because the design supports every part of
the body. Zones Three and Four, for example, provide ultimate
back support to relieve common back pains. Meanwhile, Zones Five
and Six help to relieve fatigue and ease painful joints through
the use of specially designed pocketed posture springing (PPS)
springs that provide firm, but not rigid, support.

The company also says its Posture Spring System enables sound
sleep because the interrelated springs support the entire body
weight in a natural posture. "The more springs used means the
more points for distributing and supporting body weight. As a
result, the sleeper sleeps well and wakes without any back pains
or aches in the neck," Ali said.

Spring mattresses are the preferred choice among Indonesian
consumers because, in addition to a range of prices, they also
offer good ventilation.

Industry players say that a quality spring mattress has an air
cushion in the spring unit to enable the mattress to adapt to the
sleeper's body temperature quickly and without accumulating heat,
which provides good moisture regulation. "A mattress should have
adequate ventilation so that the body will not produce too much
perspiration during sleep that will be absorbed by the mattress,"
said marketing manager Rob Nijkrake of the U.S.' PT King Koil
International Indonesia.

A spring mattress can be purchased for Rp700,000, but the
price of branded, quality spring mattresses range from Rp 2
million to Rp 30 million, depending on design, construction,
mattress layers, density and thickness. Natural latex mattresses,
on the other hand, sell for between Rp 4 million and Rp 60
million.

Dunlopillo Indonesia, which specializes in natural latex
mattresses for upmarket consumers, boasted that the lure of its
latex mattresses was their resistance to microbes and dust mites,
microscopic creatures that live by the millions in a bed. Natural
latex mattresses thus provides a healthful, germ-free environment
for safe and comfortable sleep.

"In addition, latex mattresses provides ventilation to prevent
body heat from being trapped in the mattress and prevents
moisture build-up," said Isye. "Latex mattresses are mostly
sought by those suffering from asthma and allergies."

King Koil's Rob Nijkrake said the company imported most of its
raw materials from the U.S. to ensure that its products maintain
its established top-quality standards.

For example, its Talalay model, which uses standard latex, has
open round cells and thousands of ventilating ducts for better
circulation and moisture control, and is thus healthy and
ecologically friendly.

With such a variety of quality mattress models and designs
from which to choose, today's sleepers can rest assured that they
will find the right mattress to support their physiological and
health needs.