What is the ultimate luxury? Wealthy people with seemingly everything money can buy, often admit that life’s greatest luxuries are good health and love. A vital element of maintaining good health in our increasingly hectic and digitally dominated lives is a restorative night’s sleep. Love, we’ll get to in a bit.
Founded in 1852, family-owned Swedish bed manufacturer Hästens specializes in hand-crafted mattresses, renowned for their savoir-faire and six-figure price tags. The company has been a purveyor to Swedish royalty since 1952, and now the world is awakening to its products’ comfort and craftsmanship.
The conspicuous Blue Check bed has a growing cohort of celebrity devotees, a recent cameo in Netflix hit Emily in Paris, and a shoutout in Post Malone’s rap lyrics.
Fifth-generation owner and CEO Jan Ryde points to 172 years of master craftsmanship along with the brand’s “culture of love” as drivers of Hästens success on the global stage, and helping discerning consumers prioritize the importance of a better night’s sleep.
Love as the driving force#
Having joined the family company as CEO at the age of 25, Ryde has grown Hästens from a small Swedish family-run business to now being sold in over 50 countries.
His leadership book, When Business Is Love, published earlier this year, details his self-development story and approach to building the intergenerational business through what he calls a love-driven approach for people and purpose. Indeed, a focus on quality, brand values, customer service and sustainability has been at the heart of Hästens long before CSR became a boardroom buzz term.
“It helps for us to have a big vision of making this planet better, making people all over the world successful and living in love, joy, peace and abundance, and our products are part of that,” the CEO tells Jing Daily.
This might sound a tad idealistic, but reframing mattresses from a mundane household purchase to the realm of aspirational luxury wellness has been highly effective for Hästens. The brand produces exclusively on demand and has months-long waiting lists.
“Our beds are labors of love that manifest the spirit of joy and gratitude in which we make them,” says the passionate CEO.
History of craftsmanship excellence#
Like time-honored fashion houses, Hästens’ traditional craftsmanship, quality materials and innovation represent the mastery and value of the brand for its elite clientele.
The light-filled Hästens “Dream Factory” in Köping, the same small village where Ryde grew up an hour outside Stockholm, feels like a quiet atelier. The company employs around 300 people, representing a core engine of local business growth, who hand-tuft, construct and sew each individual mattress much as they have been doing for almost two centuries. It takes up to 600 hours to craft a single bed.
Comprising a base, middle mattress, and topper, the beds are made from natural sustainable materials – springy hand-teased horsehair, wool, cotton and flax – layered within multiple cooperating spring systems. These materials naturally promote air flow to keep customers cool. They also remove static electricity and absorb noise and vibration, deeply supporting the body so that you feel like you are sleeping in rather than on the mattress.
Combining tradition and style, Hästens signature Blue Check pattern introduced in 1978 has become a statement of bedroom luxury. In 2020, the brand pushed this further, teaming up with interior designer Ferris Rafauli to create the top-of-the line Grand Vividus bed set in a trunk-inspired base.
Hästens role in China’s wellness movement#
The 2024 Chinese National Healthy Sleep White Paper released by the Chinese Sleep Research Society in March found that Chinese residents are not getting enough sleep, with an average sleep duration of 6.75 hours per night, significantly below the recommended eight hours. Sixty-four percent of respondents had poor sleep quality. A 2024 study of Chinese adolescents found a correlation between poor sleep and mental health issues.
Hästens expanded its presence to sleep-deprived China in 2008 and joined Tmall as the e-commerce platform’s first imported household brand in 2020. The company participated in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in 2021 and 2023, and held a themed exhibition last June in Shanghai celebrating the 45th anniversary of two brand icons: the Blue Check pattern and 2000T bed.
A new version of the popular 2000T bed will launch in China and globally this year incorporating key improvements in craftsmanship, comfort and aesthetics.
“This launch represents a significant evolutionary step beyond our continuous enhancements, delivering an unparalleled sleep experience," says James Aschberger, Hästens Chief Customer and Marketing Officer.
Despite its Tmall presence, Ryde admits that e-commerce is not the focus for Hästens. Consumers typically prefer to book a “sleep spa” to experience the bed before investing such a vast amount. The brand currently works with 40 partner stores across Asia, including a new store at China World Mall in Beijing. “But there are still so many white spots on the map, and we can grow just by building distribution [in China],” says Ryde.
Hotels are an effective partnership avenue for Hästens, enabling customers to experience the beds and enhancing brand awareness and trust among Chinese consumers.
“For too long, hotels haven’t been interested in sleep. They’ve been more interested in everything else,” says Ryde. With premium hotels looking for fresh ways to deliver a luxury experience, destinations like Corinthia in London and the 15-room Hästens Sleep Spa-CBR Boutique Hotel in Coimbra, Portugal, are now promoting Hästens beds as USPs.
McKinsey’s Future of Wellness survey values the global consumer wellness market at $1.8 trillion in 2024, and highlights sleep as the second-highest wellness priority for consumers, but also the area where they have most unmet needs, offering a key area for market expansion.
“Consumers have not been enlightened about the importance of a bed,” Ryde tells Jing Daily. “The car you drive, the watch you have … those are superficially important for people. But for feeling as well as you can each day, sleep is best. People will realize this and start to invest in their best sleep. I’m not talking about sleeping pills or food supplements but having a bed that does this for you naturally.”
Presented by Hästens.