Vitafoam

Vitafoam is 50 this year, but assuming no assurance of boilerplate age as it drives avant-garde the accession of new technologies and accomplishment methods and brings to West African consumers the all-embracing levels of account they admiration today. The aggregation was founded in 1962, listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1978, and has become accustomed as by far the better supplier of adjustable cream articles to the Nigerian market—itself the better in Africa with a citizenry of over 160 actor people. But there’s hardly amplitude actuality to allocution in detail about Vitafoam’s ascendancy in the top above adjustable cream articles bogus from four branch locations at Ikeja, Lagos in the south-west; Aba in the south-east; Kano in the north-west; and Jos in the north-east of Nigeria. Suffice to say that the aggregation is universally accepted for its mattresses, fibre pillows, upholstery sheetings, reconstituted cream for orthopaedic mattresses and affairs products.

Vitafoam’s all-inclusive arrangement of above articles accept been aggregate beneath four segments: ‘Early Days’,which caters for nursing mothers, babies and accouchement afore the boyish years;‘Lifestyle’, a trend-changing and avant-garde chic with articles that reflect avant-garde tastes in the household; ‘Premium Health’,which focuses on the accouterment of articles that baby for the upwardly adaptable and ageing chic who are bloom conscious;and assuredly ‘Leisure’, advised to abode the alfresco and leisure needs of the adolescent at heart.Lately it alien into the Nigerian bazaar inner-core bounce mattresses, packaged beds, duvets and bed spreads (fitted and credible sheets), thereby alms the customer a absolute band-aid for a adequate sleep.

The majority of Nigerians today beddy-bye on Vitafoam mattresses, says Vitafoam’s CEO Bamidele Makanjuola, but appeal is alive appear the affectionate of centralized braid bounce mattresses that are about accepted in North America and Europe. In 2011 Vitafoam congenital an addendum to its Ikeja bulb and able it with avant-garde bounce authoritative accouterment from Manchester in the UK and became the aboriginal architect of bounce mattresses in the West African region, business them beneath the Vita Bounce brand. Vita Bounce Flex and Vita Bounce Firm are generally accepted by top cast hotels.

This has been a abundant success, he says. Until now bounce mattresses had to be imported, but Vita Bounce brings them aural the ability of boilerplate assets consumers for the aboriginal time. “We aim to advance the bazaar to the accepted enjoyed in the blow of the world. Our ambition over the next three years is to aggrandize assembly and business so that Nigerians will admission the aftertaste for them, and up to 80 per cent of the mattresses we advertise will be bounce mattresses.”

The new articles still accept cream elements ‘sandwiching’ the cream and the inner-core spring, but the bulk of cream acclimated is awfully reduced, authoritative the accomplished artefact abundant added sustainable. “The abridgement of CFCs and added chemicals is one of our key drivers. It is an environmentally affable process, and the bulk of affairs is cheaper too because the bounce mattress lasts abundant longer.”

The bounce mattress ability is just the latest amplification to appear on beck afterward a N2 billion ($120 million) programme of investment over the endure 5 years. One of the arch fruits of that investment was the ability set up in 2009 to action polyester fibre and accomplish afterwards articles from it. Aswell in Ikeja, this is a abstracted branch and back the action is absolutely altered from cream production, it was set up beneath a abstracted company, Vitablom Nigeria Limited, 80 per cent endemic by Vitafoam. “Almost all Vitablom’s assembly of alveolate siliconised fibre pillows, duvets and cushions is awash alongside our Vitafoam artefact range. We are affairs fibre pillows all over Nigeria now, and into Ghana, which is one of our above consign markets, and aswell to Sierra Leone.”

With a citizenry of about 5.5 actor Sierra Leone is a fast growing abridgement based on its mineral resources, and is nowrebuilding its abridgement 10 years afterwards the end of a civilian war that destroyed a lot of of the country’s infrastructure.Vitafoam’s plan to authorize a adjustable cream and fibre pillow processing bulb there is at an avant-garde date of preparation, says Makanjuola. “We anchored a $2.8 actor accommodation from the Apple Bank subsidiaryInternational Finance Corporation (IFC)—its aboriginal investment in Sierra Leone’s accomplishment industry back the civilian war ended—to set up this factory. We were able to argue the IFC that the action is applicable and we are acquisitive the branch in Sierra Leone will advancement automated action and add to the active standards of the boilerplate Sierra Leonean.” Vitafoam will absorb a 60 per cent authoritative absorption in the action with bounded investors acrimonious up the actual equity, he says. Architecture at the site, 15 afar east of Freetown, started beforehand this year, and aboriginal assembly there will be accepted in March 2013, he says.

Back in Nigeria, Vitafoam is introducing big changes to the way Nigerians accouter their houses, not just through artefact accession but aswell through the alternation of Comfort Centres it is rolling out beyond the nation. “It is one of the means we wish to aggrandize our bazaar allotment in the country,” says Makanjuola. “We wish to change the affairs action of Nigerians—how they acquirement cream and foam-related domiciliary items—so we aim to set up showrooms on top streets all over the country.” Eventually every above city-limits will accept its Comfort Centre, but they are already present at six locations in the Lagos area: Warri, Ife, Abuja, Jos and Kano.

Generally, the anatomy in Nigeria is that you go to the retailer, acquirement your furniture, again accomplish your own arrange to get it home. Comfort Centres alien the abstraction of a one-stop-shop, breadth the customer can accept from a ambit of accompanying articles and accept them delivered free. It is a big footfall for retail, and is getting added by the accession of online purchasing through its acknowledgment (call/contact) centre via its website. In July 2011 Vitafoam entered a cardinal accord with the acclaimed bed architect Vono that brought togethertwo of the nation’s arch players in the beddings and appliance industry. Vitafoam acquired a division of the disinterestedness in its above rival, and admission to its able brand. The synergy was apparent, Makanjuola observes: Vono has above adequacy in the breadth of furniture-making while Vitafoam has the better cream accomplishment and administration network, which will awfully advice Vono to bear its articles in and alfresco the country—and in accurate anticipation the growing arrangement of Comfort Centres.

While adjustable cream will bulk for the better volumes for some time to come, adamant polyurethane foam, a carefully affiliated technology, yields college margins. Chiefly acclimated for insulation, whether in barrio for calefaction and soundproofing or for pipework cladding in automated applications, abnormally the oil and gas industry. All the adamant cream acclimated in Nigeria was alien afore Vitafoam set up Vitapur Nigeria Limited in 2009. The aggregation specialises in polyurethane and polyisocyanate adamant cream products. “Rigid cream was a accustomed move for us, and we are advance heavily in it. There’s a ample bazaar for these articles in accepted construction, insulation panels for portakabins and agronomical barrio like craven houses as able-bodied as algid aliment for the aliment and foodservice industries.”

He is assured abundant things from Vitapur as its accommodation as the alone architect in West Africa is recognised. Meanwhile he is advancing with application into this actual abstruse market, hiring ability from away to alternation and abutment the bounded staff. In time Vitapur hopes to accept the aplomb to accouterment ample aqueduct insulation projects for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry: to this end it has active affiliation agreements with two specialist Italian gas and oil activity insulation companies.