Geovana Pagel*
geovana.pagel@anba.com.br
São Paulo – Duoflex, specialised in the production of pillows, uses and abuses of technology to establish its brand in Brazil and abroad. Among the main lines are special pillows made out of latex, pillows with springs, ventilated foam and with height adjustment. All of them with anti dust mite treatment. With average monthly production of 170,000 units, the pillows made in the city of Vinhedo, in the interior of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, are already exported to Chile, Uruguay, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela and also to countries in Europe. The producer is also currently negotiating with a Chinese importer.
Exports, despite representing just 10% of revenues by the company, which has been in the market for 18 years, are strategic. "They are also a way of promoting and strengthening our brand abroad," stated the marketing director at the organisation, Roberto Lobo. According to him, the secret for success is very simple: exclusiveness. "In Brazil we are the only exclusive pillow factory. The other companies generally produce mattresses and eiderdowns," he said.
Duoflex is also the only company in Brazil that produces the original Nasa pillows, developed by the Nasa Research Centre, in California. It is a self-moulding and thermo-sensitive pillow, with slow return or "memory", acting like a shock-absorber, permitting natural relaxation, and avoiding headaches, neck aches, back aches and pain in the shoulders.
Apart from developing and importing technological innovations, the industry also buys part of its raw material that cannot be found here from other countries. The Egyptian cotton used in the production of some of the pillow covers, for example, comes from Egypt and Pakistan. Some special foam is purchased from Germany, the United States, Poland and China. "In Brazil it becomes Duoflex pillows and some returns to the foreign market with greater added value," pointed out Lobo.
Due to the growing demand on the domestic market and to good perspectives regarding foreign sales, the factory is getting ready to double production up to the end of 2008. "We are going to invest in the expansion of the factory and of machinery. This way we will be able to easily supply all the new orders and even prospect new markets," bets the director.
One of the most exported Duoflex pillows is the latex foam one, made out of raw material produced from rubber trees in the Amazon. According to Lobo, latex foam has very peculiar characteristics. It is moulded with thousands of little holes that create internal channels for circulation of air. Their structure is also made out of open cells, simplifying breathing and keeping the pillow at lower temperatures than the body. Apart from that, it permits rapid evaporation of humidity and transpiration.
Contact
Telephone: (+55 19) 2101.9595
Site: www.duoflex.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
