At THE WADE ASIA 2025, held at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi, Vasant Singal of Sheela Foam presented a compelling narrative on the company’s evolution and its expanding foam technologies beyond traditional mattresses as part of the Brand Presentation series showcasing partner brands under Material Review. While Sheela Foam is widely known for its iconic brands like Sleepwell and Kurlon, Singal emphasized the company’s emergence into specialized foams tailored for industrial and safety applications, reflecting the company’s 50-year journey and multi-national presence. “We are present not only in India but in our last 50 years of journey, we took over companies in Australia in 2006 and in Spain,” he said. Despite its multi-national presence, Sheela Foam’s business portfolio remains firmly rooted in foam and mattresses. “Today we are a USD 500 million entity, about 4,000 Cr plus, and we have been making foam and mattresses for the last 50 years,” he proudly announced. Learn more about the brand and its offerings on SURFACES REPORTER (SR).
Singal highlighted Sheela Foam’s vast manufacturing strength with over 30 per cent share of India’s PU foam industry and a production capacity that enables it to make any foam possible in the world including hard, memory, soft and high-resilience foam. The brand not only serves Indian consumers through Sleepwell Mattresses but also caters extensively to the B2B sectors including automotive, footwear, furniture and generator manufacturing. Explaining foam’s unique acoustic properties, Singal described, “Foam is a porous absorber. There are so many holes inside it that the sound energy gets lost in that. I would say that it is the most cost effective medium, and widely appreciated in industries like generator manufacturing.” He stressed the versatility of foam, which can be manufactured in multiple colours and shapes, and is limited only by the imagination of interior designers.
Further, Singal tackled a critical safety concern regarding fire incidents, where toxicity and smoke, not flames, cause most casualties. He underscored the significance of low-smoke, low-toxicity flame-retardant foams currently adopted on a large scale by the Indian Railways. According to him, these foams are engineered to provide additional evacuation time with minimal health harm by reducing smoke and toxic fumes, which is critical in enclosed and open environments alike. He also spoke about furniture and mattress applications, showcasing CNC-machined single-piece sofas as examples of Sheela Foam’s manufacturing innovation.