40-year-old firm from Cebu expands in Philippines

CEBU City, Philippines—Resilience and perseverance have transformed Mandaue Foam Inc. into a successful venture, becoming one of the country’s top 1,000 corporations as it reaches its 40th year.

A foam and furniture company, Mandaue Foam started in 1971 when Rosita Uy invested P100,000 into a polyurethane foam venture after she was convinced by her son, Robin T. Uy, now the company’s president and the chief executive officer.

The polyurethane foam is used in beds, furniture, packaging, garments, insulation and the automotive industry.

“My dad saw there were no Cebu-based foam manufacturers,” explains Ryan Uy, grandson of Rosita and eldest son of Robin.

At that time, Ryan says the polyurethane foam materials were either imported or supplied by Manila companies.

It was no easy task for a new brand to penetrate the local market.

“When you’re a small company and just starting, it’s very hard. We have to do research and do product development,” explains Ryan, managing director of Mandaue Foam.

Creating awareness

First, the company had to create awareness for the product and the brand, Robin recalls.

“Another challenge was getting all the processes of manufacturing right, which at the time, was no easy thing,” he adds.

Among the biggest challenges were the three fires that hit the Mandaue Foam factory—first in 1972, then in 1986 and 1996. But, even if the company incurred major losses due to the fires, closing down the business was never an option.

“After each time that Mandaue Foam had accidents, there was never any doubt that we would have to push forward and rebuild the business. The thought of giving up never occurred to anyone. Each time a calamity occurred, we learned from our mistakes and took that as an opportunity to make the business better,” says Robin.

After each fire, Mandaue Foam rebuilt its factory and continued operations.

Foothold in the market

After gaining a foothold in the market for foam products, Mandaue Foam decided to expand its product lines, Ryan tells BusinessMonday.

“Mandaue Foam started making beds during the late 1970s after realizing that there was a huge opportunity to vertically integrate and bring its products closer to the consumers,” says the older Uy.

He notes that it became an instant hit since Mandaue Foam as a factory was able to sell its products at more competitive prices.

“Soon after the company started asking itself, what else can we do with the foam that we are making, with the raw materials that we had readily available? We realized that there were many areas that we could actually penetrate. We started manufacturing spring beds in 1989 to cater to the more high-end market and to hotels,” Robin says.

Product expansion

The company also started making other products like pillows, sofas, beds, frames, dining tables, entertainment units, study tables, curtains, carpets, lighting products and other accessories.

Mandaue Foam introduced sofas in 1998 when the company started aggressively opening showrooms. Its bestsellers are the Flex Foam mattress and the Gala Bed, several high-quality spring bed models.

According to Ryan, the company has to continue innovating as it faced emerging competition from local companies and imported brands.

This was done by coming up with products that have added value. For example, the company’s spring mattresses are made of foam and fabric backing that are micro-organism free and non-allergenic.

The foam mattress, spring bed and pillow products also cater to different needs. The spring mattress models range from Gala Essential for the slightly built to Gala Essential with Padding for heavier persons and the more durable Hotel Quality Bonnel.

Mandaue Foam also has a chiropractic mattress for those who have back problems and pull out mattress ideal for dormitories and for children’s rooms.

The company also produces several types of pillows such as the anti-allergenic Super Soft Pillow ideal for hotel use, Fantasy and Dream pillows made of hypo-allergenic polyester fiber and the Memory and Latex pillows that will help keep neck and head in alignment with the spine to avoid head, shoulder and neck pain.

After the success of the company’s first retail showroom in Mandaue City, it expanded to Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Davao and General Santos.

Penetrating Manila

In 2007, Mandaue Foam also decided to penetrate Metro Manila and Luzon by setting up its factory and showroom along Ortigas Avenue extension, which is now fully equipped with a state-of-the-art foaming machine line.

The company opened its second showroom in Quezon Avenue, Quezon City, in 2008 and a third one in Las Piñas City in 2010.

The company now has six production plants located in Cebu, Davao and General Santos and 17 showrooms—three each in Cebu, Manila, Iloilo and Davao, two in Cagayan de Oro City and one each in General Santos, Bacolod and Butuan.

The company’s ability to innovate and keep up with the world trends, especially in foam manufacturing, also helped make Mandaue Foam reach its position as among the leading foam manufacturer in the country.

But the company will not rest on its achievements as it will continue to challenge itself.

Ryan says they plan to capture the bulk of the domestic hotel market. So far, Mandaue Foam has supplied the requirements of Intercontinental Hotel in Manila, Boracay Regency, Boracay Garden and all Go Hotels.

The company also plans to open more showrooms and more factories as well as expand product lines to include kitchen and stainless steel furnishing.

According to Ryan, the company also targets an annual average growth of 10-15 percent and intends to become a complete home store in five years.

When asked what made Mandaue Foam successful, Robin says it could be attributed to the hard work and perseverance of each and every employee.

“The success of the business cannot be attributed to the work of one person alone but everyone as a whole. Mandaue Foam also became successful because of its continuing commitment to provide its customers with products that are durable, comfortable and stylish at cost-effective prices,” he adds.