~ Interview with Onder Honi, CEO at Innova Bedding Handmade & Natural Mattresses
1. Sustainability is your USP. Tell us the philosophy behind it.
We consume the natural resources in our world very quickly and excessively. Depending on this consumption, we all observe that natural resources are rapidly depleting. As human beings and as business owners, it is now imperative that we all strive for sustainability and biodegradability in our products and productions.
2. Give us an idea of the journey behind Innova Bedding’s growth? What were the three factors that played a role here?
For many years, we have been aiming to lead a natural life in our private life, both individually and as a family. We try to wear clothes such as natural, linen, cotton, wool and consume natural and organic foods. We prefer to use natural and recyclable products, and we try to consume less products containing packaging with long biodegradability.
In the founding philosophy of Innova Bedding, we were inspired by this natural and sustainable lifestyle that we already live. Along with us, an increasing number of people have become very conscious about the protection of nature, the sustainability of resources, and consuming biodegradable products and have started to use their preferences in this direction. The increasing number of conscious and inquisitive people’s demands in the philosophy of life and lifestyle to return to nature and save the future and leave a more livable environment to future generations is one of the leverage effects of our lack of growth.
3. What is the demand like for natural mattresses? What drives this demand and who are your main customers?
Industrialisation has made our lives easier, but fast consumption and the need to produce and consume more economical products have taken us away from naturalness. Synthetic products are more economical, more convenient, but unfortunately they have some bad effects on our health and sleep quality. In particular, non-perishable, non-rotting products, airtight, moisture management and moisture absorbency are very low. It generates static electricity and does not ground. Since all of them are petrochemical products, their toxic effects have not been fully measured.
Unfortunately, it is not easy to immediately understand the above-mentioned and similar harms of products containing synthetic and petrochemicals. We try to eliminate these harms by producing natural sleep products. Unfortunately, the number of people who understand these harms is only about 5% of mattress consumers. However, not all of this 5% can afford to buy these beds.
Our customers are generally conscious consumers who understand the harms of synthetic products, nature lovers who want to protect nature, natural life lovers who want to live naturally, and those who want to leave a livable environment for those who will live in the future.
4. Where do you source your natural materials from, especially when it comes to materials like latex, horsehair, etc?
We use 20 different natural mattress materials in our mattresses and other sleep products. 20 different products are supplied from approximately 16 different countries. Our latex products come from countries in the equatorial geography. Horsemane comes from Latin American countries, our coconut fibers come from South Asian countries. Cotton and wool come from Australia and New Zealand apart from Turkey.
5. You have been a regular exhibitor at Sleep Expo ME. What makes you keep coming back? What are you planning to showcase at Sleep Expo ME this year? And who do you expect to meet?
The people in the consumer market of Innova Bedding natural products are very special people. We have a consumer base that wants to buy Innova Bedding products from countries all over the world, regardless of the economic level, culture level or habits of the countries. That’s why we have to be all over the world. There are also people in the Middle East and African countries who want to lead a natural and healthy life. We want to offer our products to these people. For this reason, we are participating in the Sleep Expo Middle East fair for the 4th time.