Managing Director, Himrag Coir Pvt Ltd
Mr Himanshu Mehta, MD of Himrag Coir Products delves into the Eastern India Mattress market and shares his company’s growth plans
Q How Eastern mattress market is different from rest of the country?
Eastern India markets are too cost-centric. It’s a low-margin, low-value market. If you compare it to the Southern or the Western part of India, where value addition material proportion is good to lower value material proportion wise, Eastern India is an excessively low-cost, low-value market. That is the primary point of difference. A secondary point of difference is the use of filler material in the mattresses. Lower value Filament like EPE, which is much higher in content than the other parts of India.
Q Do you plan to have a pan-India presence?
We already have a pan-India presence. Maybe we’re not too focused on the North of India, but other than that, we are already operating at a pan-India level.
Q How do you see rubberised coir panning out in next 3 years?
I am not too positive about it, but I’m not negative about it for the last two years. After we have seen the government procurement, the demand is matching supply. Currently, since supply is restricted due to no new entrants in the market and the existing players being the only ones who are supplying, I think the demand-supply position is more or less matched. So, any change in those dynamics will change the outlook of the industry.
Q Can you share some of your growth plans for the year 2023?
We are planning to put up a plant in Jharkhand for foam mattress manufacturing. Also planning mattress integrated plant in Nepal. We are looking at introducing a new set of sofas, and dining chairs under our furniture business segment.
Q What is the USP of your product?
We have been manufacturing rubberized coir mattresses for around 20 years. So, in terms of the rubberized coir technique, I think we are much more informed since there is no new tech in the rubberized coir segment. For PU foams we are 6 or 7 years old and we don’t make commercial grade high filler materials. We are trying to maintain quality PU Foam so that our margins are balanced. Maybe we may not have volume growth, but in terms of branding, we have that.