2.1 Billion Overweight People Worldwide

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-28/obese-or-overweight-people-top-2-1-billion-worldwide.html

Obese or Overweight People Top 2.1 Billion Worldwide ….That's 30%..Not exactly a niche market.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-28/obese-or-overweight-people-top-2-1-billion-worldwide.html

by Dale Read

United States population as of this morning at 9 AM was 318,135,100 people, and 30% of that number is 95,440,530 people.  That's 30%..not exactly a niche market!! Who would not want 95 million built-in customers?

So I represent a client who  manufactures and markets heavy-duty mattress/ bedding support systems that can support up to 4,000 lbs. depending upon the model selected.  My client wondered if they marketed a PLUS-size bed support, foundation, platform bed concept if this was  too narrow a niche market?  To address this, at the last Las Vegas market we handed out  research statistics from the CDC that showed:

Basically what both the CDC report last year and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation research showed this year is that approximately one in every three Americans now has a Body Mass Index of 25% to 30% or more, and they meet the definitions of overweight or obese. 

That means one in every three mattress/ bedding customers coming into the retail store has a body that lends itself to a PLUS-Size Solution in terms of support, alignment, comfort, performance and longevity of product. So far only a few mattress manufacturers have taken this issue seriously and developed mattresses AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS FROM THE FOUNDATION UP that will address both the short term and long term needs of bigger, larger and heavier customers. Even if the mattress happens to hold up over a few years, the traditional frame, cheaper foundation solution fails larger customers. Our client has interviewed obese consumers, who have reported to them failure of frame and foundation within a year or so. 

The point is we are making here is that this is NOT a small niche. Retailers have more customers coming through the doors that are overweight or obese than they have suffering from menopause, sports injuries, physical disability, even the very serious problems related to allergies or any of the other myriad of issues the mattress industry has addressed with foams, latex, special innersprings, gels,  natural materials, protection systems etc. 

Sinusitis

  • Roughly 13% of people 18 and over in the U.S. have sinusitis.4

Allergic Rhinitis

Our point is really quite simple:  The PLUS-SLEEPER issue is NOT a niche market problem.  It is a huge mainstream market issue affecting 30% of all customers, and that mattress/bedding manufacturers should be addressing through R &D and product development.  That the solution is NOT just a tough, engineered, high performance mattress, but also a system that works from the floor up…from the support system to the top-of-bed.

As president of the Specialty Sleep Association, I believe that if specialty bed categories wish to grow, they should lead the charge to create and market longer term, superior technology products that will perform, will last at least 8 years, and will address the basic support, alignment, comfort and performance needs of the growing 30% of the market that is overweight or obese!  One in three American shoppers needs this totally integrated approach to mattress and bedding.

PS…By the way with ta BMI of 27% yours truly slips into that overweight category…by about 20 to 25 lbs.  It is a real issue for many of us!

To Marketers of "Natural" or "Organic" mattresses

To Marketers of "Natural" or "Organic" mattresses, bedding and top-of-bed products in the United States.

By Dale Read

We (the SSA and its industry partners) have spent four-plus years now defining the terminology, certifications, standards and government regulations regarding "green" marketing claims within the mattress and bedding field in the United States.  We have met with and/or worked with government agencies including: USDA-NOP, USDA-Bio-Preferred, CPSC, the Federal Trade Commission ( "Green Guides”) , and non-government agencies such as Organic Trade Association (OTA) , Sustainable Furnishings Council  (SFC), American Sustainable Business Council ( ASBC), Global Organic Textile Standard, (GOTS), Oregon Tilthe, Control Union, Global Organic Latex Standard ( GOLS).  We have reached out to Green Guard, Oeke-Tex® 100 Standard, CertiPUR®-US as well as ISPA to create a TRANSPARENCY  "truth in 'green' marketing" third-party mattress-industry contents label.

If you are going to market "eco-friendly", "natural", "all-natural" and especially "organic" mattresses and bedding products in the United States, there are very clear guidelines offered by either the FTC "Green Guides"  (on substantiation ofgeneric claims) , USDA-NOP on "organic" agric-crops and food, and also from established third-party certifying bodies such as GOTS and GOLS.

We (the SSA) are here to help any member of the SSA who wishes to make "green” claims correctly in the marketplace using a third-party, accepted consumer disclosure /contents label.

FTC Warns 78 Retailers: Stop Labeling and Advertising Rayon Textile Products as "Bamboo"

FTC Warns 78 Retailers, Including Wal-Mart, Target, and Kmart, to Stop Labeling and Advertising Rayon Textile Products as "Bamboo"

February 3, 2010

Seventy-eight companies nationwide have received Federal Trade Commission letters warning that they may be breaking the law by selling clothing and other textile products that are labeled and advertised as “bamboo,” but actually are made of manufactured rayon fiber. The letters, which the agency’s staff sent last week, make the retailers aware of the FTC’s concerns about possible mislabeling of rayon products as “bamboo,” so the companies can take corrective steps to avoid Commission action.

“We need to make sure companies use proper labeling and advertising in their efforts to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers,” said David C. Vladeck, Director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Rayon is rayon, even if bamboo has been used somewhere along the line in the manufacturing process.”

The FTC sued several companies last year for allegedly selling products labeled or advertised as “bamboo” that in reality were made of rayon. Rayon is a man-made fiber created from the cellulose found in plants and trees and processed with harsh chemicals that release hazardous air pollution. Any plant or tree – including bamboo – could be used as the cellulose source, but the fiber that is created is rayon.

“While we have seen action by some retailers to correct mislabeled clothing and textile products, our hope is that these warning letters will serve as a wake-up call to all companies, regardless of their size,” Vladeck said.

The FTC staff letter outlines the requirements for proper labeling and advertising of textile products derived from bamboo. The letter states, “Rayon, even if manufactured using cellulose from bamboo, must be described using an appropriate term recognized under the FTC’s Textile Rules. . . . Failing to properly label and advertise textiles misleads consumers and runs afoul of both the Textile Rules and the FTC Act.”

In the letter, the FTC tells the companies they should review the labeling and advertising for the textile products they are selling and remove or correct any misleading bamboo references.

Along with the warning letters, the agency sent each company a synopsis of FTC decisions finding that the failure to use proper fiber names in textile labeling and advertising was deceptive and violated the FTC Act. Under the Act, the FTC can seek civil penalties of up to $16,000 per violation against any company that receives this information but fails to correct its advertising and labeling.

A complete list of the companies sent warning letters can be found on the FTC’s Web site and as a link to this press release. They include small and large retailers, with both online and brick-and-mortar stores, and firms selling textile products labeled or advertised as “bamboo” that may be made of rayon. The more commonly known retailers include:

Amazon.com, Barney’s New York, Bed Bath & Beyond, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Bloomingdale’s, Costco Wholesale, Garnet Hill, Gold Toe, Hanes, Isotoner, JC Penney, Jockey,

Kmart, Kohl’s, Land’s End, Macy’s, Maidenform, Nordstrom, Overstock.com, QVC, REI, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, Shop NBC, Spiegel, Sports Authority, Target, The Gap, The Great Indoors, Tommy Bahama, Toys R’ Us, Wal-Mart, and Zappos.com.

Recent Enforcement Actions. Today’s announcement comes on the heels of four FTC enforcement actions brought against companies selling rayon products that were misleadingly labeled and advertised. According to the Commission’s complaints, filed in August 2009, the companies falsely claimed that their rayon clothing and other textile products were “bamboo fiber,” marketing them using names such as “ecoKashmere,” “Pure Bamboo,” “Bamboo Comfort,” and “BambooBaby.” The complaints also challenged a number of other deceptive “green” claims, including that the products retained the bamboo plant’s antimicrobial properties, were made using environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, and are biodegradable.

The four companies have settled the FTC’s charges and agreed to modify their labels to ensure their claims are not misleading or deceptive. (One of the cases still needs final FTC approval.) Press releases announcing the complaints and related settlements can be found at: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/12/dynabamboo.shtm and http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/bamboosa.shtm, respectively.

Business and Consumer Information. The FTC has a publication designed to help businesses that sell clothing and textile products that are labeled as bamboo to market their products in ways that are truthful, non-deceptive, and in compliance with the law. “Avoid Bamboo-zling Your Customers” can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/bamboo. The FTC also has an alert entitled “Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics?” that provides useful information for consumers shopping for bamboo-based fabrics. It also can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/bamboo.

The Commission vote to publicly disclose the warning letters was 4-0. Copies of the letters and a complete list of companies that received them can be found on the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bamboo and as a link to this press release.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, click: http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.shtm or call 1-877-382-4357. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. For free information on a variety of consumer topics, click http://ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Mitchell J. Katz
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2161 

STAFF CONTACT:
James A. Kohm
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-2640