Wellness mattress sales on the rise in TS, AP

Hyderabad: Investing in health is not a luxury but a necessity. That's what the performance conscious people like athletes, actors and corporate honchos, as well as ordinary people, believe in. This health consciousness is driving orthopaedic or wellness mattresses in Telugu states as well as India.

According to industry insiders, the comfort and bedding industry in India is pegged at a market size of around Rs 10,000 crore, which includes organised brands and unorganised non-brands along with cotton-based mattresses.

In this combined market, the share of organised mattresses has grown to 40 per cent (Rs 4,000 crore), from 33 per cent few years back, Uttam Malani, Executive Director, Centuary Mattresses, told The Hans India.

Malani further said the share of health and orthopaedic mattresses stands at around 15 per cent (Rs 1,500 crore), in which Telangana and Andhra Pradesh contributes 10 per cent (Rs 150 crore) to this segment. Besides, the comfort and bedding industry is growing at a rate of 11 per cent to 12 per cent, whereas the health category of mattresses is growing at 20 per cent y-o-y, in India as well as in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he added.

Darpan Furnishings, a multi-brand home decor store in Hyderabad sells 10-12 national and international mattress brands. The Managing Director of Darpan, Suleman Hirani sees increasing demand of orthopaedic mattresses in the city.

"From last three years we have seen a surge in demand for orthopaedic mattresses. Hyderabadis are more health conscious now. The consumers are just not buying a mattress for the sake of buying any, but they look into the technicality and USP of the mattress, before investing," he said.

Observing that sleep and health are underrated in India, Mathew Chandy, Managing Director, Duroflex Pvt Ltd, said: "the category of orthopaedic mattresses hasn't really taken off. We expect this category might take nearly 10 years to mature, as at present we see only six per cent of customers for orthopaedic mattresses. However, these mattresses are in demand with performance conscious people like athletes, actors and corporates."

Speaking about Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as a market for mattresses, Chandy said, "we have been seeing new investments coming into Hyderabad, in terms of IT companies and real estate, which in turn will lead the mattresses market to grow faster. Citing this demand, Duroflex plans to close this financial year with 140 exclusive stores and the next fiscal with 250 stores, TS and AP combined," he said, adding that the competition is not among mattresses brands, the effort is to take major share from the unbranded segment.

Duroflex Mattresses has wellness mattresses in the price range of Rs 7,500 to Rs 1 lakh, while Centuary Mattresses have four variants, starting from a price of Rs 19,000 to Rs 80,000.