Who Offers Us the Choice of A Better Life and A Better World

Neither Natura World, nor its owner, Ralph Rossdeutscher, are typical of many of the mattress, sleep industry companies and executives. After all, how many companies quote Mahatma Ghandi, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” in their company product literature? While more and more mattress and top-of-bed companies are indeed focused on better sleep, better health and environmental concerns, few if any of these manufacturing companies were founded from the beginning with these as the primary mission of the company. Natura from day one has been about “cultivating a healthier body, soul and world.”

Rossdeutscher’s family founded the company in 1994 “built on a passion for active living,” and yes, on sound family values and The Golden Rule. Rossdeutscher recently wrote, “Being a family that possesses a real enthusiasm for life, we’ve always desired to get the most out of our days. We knew a good night’s sleep contributed more to a productive day. But when we looked at existing mattress manufacturers for help, we didn’t find solutions. When we realized that in order to get the great sleep we’d dreamed of, we’d just have to create a mattress (and today a whole lot more bedding products) ourselves.”

From day one the company was built on solid traditional family values—respect for one another, fair play, sharing, working together, seeking to meet each other’s needs. “Because Natura is a family owned business,” says Rossdeutscher, “and not a huge corporation, we think big thoughts, but we sweat the small stuff . . . because we are a family, we understand the importance of offering healthy choices for the entire family. That is why we carry a vast line of products for infants through adults—and we haven’t forgotten that pets are family too!”

Describing the launch and development of Natura World as amazing, often difficult, sometimes a nearly impossible, but also exhilarating rock (cliff face) climb, Rossdeutscher shares, “We have never climbed alone. Right from the beginning, we surrounded ourselves with a knowledgeable and professional support team of suppliers, friends, and retailers.” Rossdeutscher further tells this editor that “doing the Impossible in the pursuit of natural and organic sleep solutions has become addicting. Climbers have a name for the most difficult part of the climb,” says Rossdeutscher. “It’s called the crux. It often seems impossible to pass, but once you make it past the crux, the path to the top becomes much clearer and the climb seems easier. Now beyond our crux (of defining, designing and creating truly natural, organic, healthy and excellent performing sleep systems), the satisfaction of the climb has become far greater than the challenges.”

Rossdeutscher points out that Natura World has been committed to the concept of natural, healthy and organic sleep since 1994 long before many of the larger brands and even many of the specialty sleep or smaller entrepreneurial companies began to use words such as natural, all natural and organic in their marketing programs. “The recipient of both national and international awards and recognitions, we’ve overcome nearly impossible obstacles (such as changes in suppliers, competition, technologies and customer demand) to become not only the PIONEER in organic and latex mattresses, but also the leading manufacturer of wool bedding/top-of-bed in North America, and the leading manufacturer of the largest product selection in the industry.” Rossdeutscher proudly notes that Natura World recently received the Number One product rating from Good Housekeeping for the company’s Natura Comfort Plus wool and unbleached cotton bed topper.

Discussing “Why Natura World exists,” Rossdeutscher steps beyond the obvious need to make a living and running a profitable business to focus on the company mission. “We are committed to being responsible . . . to healthy people and a healthy planet, creating products with more health benefits than any other brand in our industry,” says Rossdeutscher. We believe we have a responsibility to our employees, our suppliers and our customers—as well as the greater good of our planet . . . Our company is where nature meets nurture. We are always striving to find a greener way to improve our processes.” Citing the new US FR regulations, Rossdeutscher notes that, “With our solution, we not only meet or exceed all current and planned US Federal standards for fire safety, we are also the first company to accomplish this using 100% natural materials.”

If there is one area where Natura World really differentiates itself from other manufacturers of all-natural, natural or organic sleep products, it is in the philosophy behind the product offerings and the communication or consumer education aspect of the various terms applied to these products. Having noted that the company seeks the greenest choices possible within product selections, Rossdeutscher spells it out, “While not all our products are made with 100% natural ingredients, we always provide healthier, more natural and conscientious choices to what’s commonly out there.” Natura seeks the least amount of chemicals or synthetic materials and processes even with products that are not all natural or organic.

Natura World makes the nomenclature and labeling easy for retailers and consumers to understand by supplying a series of Symbols. There are specific symbols for wool products, for organic material (no chemicals, chemical fertilizers, feeds, etc.) for natural material, and there are other symbols for products that do have synthetic or chemical such as memory foams and Talalay latex.

Rossdeutscher is very upbeat about the company’s Natura™ Organic Collection. “We believe the choices we make today can have a huge impact on the way we live tomorrow; that’s why we created the Natura Organic Series over a decade ago,” says Rossdeutscher. Natura world provides this line of organic products . . . a line that is powerfully pure and made with earth-friendly materials, grown without the use of chemicals or pesticides. Free from harmful chemicals and toxins, Natura’s entire organic collection is made using the finest quality, renewable resources with careful consideration for animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Rossdeutscher notes that the entire line is well received but that buyers were particularly excited about the Eco Brilliance (featured elsewhere in this issue) which was extremely well received in Las Vegas last summer. Rossdeutscher invites all interested retailers to contact Natura World at their website: www.NATURAWORLD.com

Dale T. Read

Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief

(704) 841-8323