Despite a hike in raw material prices amid the pandemic, Tamil Nadu-based Sriram Foams could maintain its sales numbers in the last financial year. In an exclusive interview with Comfort Times, P. Muthukumar, Managing Director of Sriram Foams, discusses the challenges facing the mattress industry and the changing consumer preferences along with their plans.
Q We believe Sriram foams manufactures several products. We are keen to know more about the mattress segment and its contribution to your overall business?
Sriram Foams indeed manufactures various products and we are currently in the niche of high-end memory foam mattresses. We are not into any other mattress segment.
Q How was FY 22 for your mattress business? What were the major growth drivers last year? Please mention, if any specific product or geography contributed towards your growth last year.
In FY 22, we did not witness any decline in our sales number and we could maintain our business at a normal pace. We do not have any retail stores and all our sales happened through references only in the Tamil Nadu region.
Q What were the major challenges faced by the mattress industry amid the pandemic?
The biggest challenge that we faced during the pandemic was dealing with the increase in the prices of raw materials. Besides that, the limited availability of raw materials was the biggest hurdle, we faced during the hard times.
Q How has the consumer behaviour shaped up in the last five years? Please discuss about the changing consumer preferences.
Consumer behaviour has changed a lot in recent years, in terms of, consumers being more conscious about their health. They are now judging a mattress based on the health benefits it could offer rather than just serving as a sleeping surface. This change in consumers’ preferences will lead to an increased penetration of high-end mattresses.
Q What are the biggest challenges faced by the mattress industry? How do you think, these current challenges can be addressed?
There are plenty of challenges in front of the Indian mattress industry. There are some particular areas of concern that the industry is working on.
Some of the major challenges faced by the Indian mattress industry include recycling old mattresses; availability of low-cost machinery in India; standardization of mattress and testing standards and the alignment of the furniture and mattress industry.