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billerbeck Betten-Union
Individual bedding for every sleep requirementbillerbeck Betten-Union GmbH & Co. KG is an owner-managed family business based in Kraichtal,
Germany. Since 1921, it has been manufacturing high-quality duvets, pillows, toppers, mattresses andother bedding products with selected filling materials and cover fabrics. Research results from scientists
and institutes form the basis of the bedding. An environmental management team certified according toDIN ISO 14001 takes care of product and company-related environmental issues for more sustainability.

Downpass talked to Friedrich Ermert, Managing Director of billerbeck Betten-Union GmbH & Co. KG.
When you visit the billerbeck Betten-Union website, one statement immediately catches your eye: "APERFECT DAY BEGINS AT NIGHT®". In your experience, what actually constitutes good sleep and how canbedding support it?
Sleep is not a stand-by mode, but a process of regeneration of body and mind - true to our motto "APERFECT DAY BEGINS AT NIGHT®".
Restful sleep strengthens our immune system, supports our metabolism and our brain processes what it hasexperienced during the day. Among many other factors, the best prerequisite for restful sleep is a balanced
sleep-wake cycle. It is particularly important to pay attention to a balanced sleep pressure and our own

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biorhythms.
In addition to our physical factors, the right bedding also determines good and restful sleep. After all, who
hasn't experienced it? If you don't sleep in your own bed, you start to sweat under a strange duvet, thebeloved cozy down pillow is missing or the much too soft mattress robs you of the sleep you need.
This shows us that sleep needs differ from person to person. What we recognized early on has been
confirmed by science, and so we have developed and manufactured individual bedding for every sleep
requirement. We attach particular importance to high-quality materials, because they influence our sleeping
comfort.

The internationally active billerbeck Stiftung Schlaf & Gesundheit® (Sleep & Health Foundation) brings
together specialists from a wide range of disciplines: physicians, physiologists, psychologists, biologists,physicists and textile research institutes. They award targeted research contracts in order to expand thestate of knowledge about sleep behavior sustainably and on a broad basis. What findings in particularhave been incorporated into your products in recent years?
The billerbeck Stiftung Schlaf & Gesundheit® (Sleep & HealthFoundation) develops billerbeck bedding together with selectedscientists and institutes. The focus is particularly on product properties
such as thermal insulation capacity, air permeability, moisture balance,
weight and the importance of lying surfaces and how they can relieve
and relax. As a result, we have already been able to develop a wide
variety of product innovations for healthy sleep, such as one of the firstneck support pillows in Germany (1981).
As our ecological standards are very high, we attach great importanceto sustainability and have been successfully expanding our natural
product range for many years, so that we are currently the market
leader in the natural bedding sector.
With the latest findings of science and institutes, world novelties have been created in the naturalassortment. These include the neck support pillow COSINECK® NATURE (2017) and the natural latex
mattress COSICOMFORT® (2018) with a 100% natural latex core consisting of Natural Vita Talalay® latex. Thislatex core is manufactured entirely without artificial additives using the Talalay process and is 100% certified

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organic.
Billerbeck is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Much haschanged since 1921. Today, the company operates with its own
environmental management team. Environmental policy, climate,recycling, packaging, logistics, commitment to the region andcorporate social responsibility - how do you fill these tasks withlife?
Environmental protection, climate protection and sustainability are
the driving forces behind our thoughts and actions. Not only do we
make an important contribution to the climate and the environment
by supporting numerous environmental projects, we are also
particularly concerned about ecologically relevant issues within thecompany. The billerbeck CSR report provides an insight into ourentire environmental commitment.

Friedrich Ermert
Managing Director ofbillerbeck Betten-Union GmbH & Co. KG

A logical step in our ongoing commitment to the environment was
the certification of our environmental management system inaccordance with the strict guidelines of the internationallyrecognized DIN ISO 14001 standard.

Through this system, we have bundled our competencies in this area. This has resulted in a dedicatedenvironmental team that deals exclusively with product- and company-related environmental issues forgreater sustainability. To this end, there are environmental goals set, that pursue a CO2-neutral carbon
footprint. Together as a team, we discuss on a monthly basis, plan in detail and implement consistently allnecessary environmental and climate-relevant projects from the various divisions.
Howimportantare
independent certifications foryour success and why do you
rely on the DOWNPASS label asa sign of animal welfare &quality?
In addition to sustainability,
animal welfare is particularly
important to us. That's why wepay particular attention tocertified and controlled origins
for down and feathers, where
the geese and ducks are guaranteed traceable back to the egg, are not plucked alive and are not kept forfoie gras production.
We are grateful that there are quality seals like DOWNPASS, which check the processes with regularinspections of the standards to be met at the farms, in order to keep the commitment to animals andPhotos: © billerbeck Betten-Union–3–

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humans and let us sleep with a clear conscience also in the future.
Source: Downpass e.V.

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