Well, I've spent a week digesting what I saw at the Las Vegas Market.  There certainly were a lot of things that were new to organics and some things that were trying to be green but didn't quite make the grade.

One thing that caught my eye was the company in the Specialty Sleep Association area was something they were calling "Eco Memory Foam".  Let me be the first to say, there is nothing "Eco" about memory foam in any form. 

That's just one of the "buyer beware" tactics that are going on out there to tap into the organic and natural bedding market.

Now for some real and good organic news:

First, nobody rolled anything out that will compete with Green Sleep, not that they didn't try. 

Natura is close with a prototype they called the "Eco Transcend", a mattress that uses their dual wood slat support system with two generous layers of their Dunlopillo latex on top.  While this will certainly freshen up the dual slat lineup, it does not offer the ability to customize firmnesses.  With the Transcend, Natura is hoping to cross even further into the mainstream and go after the memory foam jugernaught Tempurpedic.  From what I've seen, this bed is significantly better than the Grand Bed, Tempurpedic's top model, and should retail at a lower price.  Plus, you have the "forever" aspect that the dual slat system offers, along with the ability to create your own softer zones within the mattress.

Another Natura prototype, developed in cooperation with Organic Sleep Products, is the Eco Advantage.  This bed, due to hit retailers before the end of the month, is a hybrid construction of their number one seller the Eco Haven.  The "advantage" to the new model is the ability to use natural latex inserts in the pillowtop to create a half firm, half soft mattress or, if you prefer, all firm or all soft.  The soft version of the Advantage is actually slightly softer than the Eco Haven, so the Advantage in an all soft configuration will be the softest organic bed that Natura offers.

Natura also debuted a new "green" collection of natural mattresses that are not organic.  The three models mirror the organic models Eco Rest, Eco Haven and Eco Brilliance, but at a lower price.  These models are about six to eight weeks from seeing a showroom and it was hinted that the cover on the production models will be changing.

The last of the bed "rumors" that flew around the market was Organic Sleep Products' move to turn out their own collection produced totally in-house.  After severing their ties with Vivetique, also known as the Natural Bedroom, OSP is now working on their own collection that will fill the price point void vacated by Land and Sky, who they removed from their lineup on February 1.

This collection, to be called "Overture" is initially going to feature three models - "Firma", "Mezzo" and "Piano" - which means "soft" in Italian.  The point to this collection is to produce an entry level organic collection to appeal to the crossover market.  The collection will feature natural latex from Nippon Nature Foams of Sri Lanka, Joma wool from New Zealand and an organic knit ticking from the United States.

In the top-of-bed catagory, Natura hinted - no prototype available - at a new "Ultimate" organic pillow consisting of a molded natural latex core and a wool quilted organic cotton velour cover.  They are also coming out with a new washable organic cotton mattress pad, filling a huge void in this area for their retailers.

The big news in top-of-bed, however, was High Desert Naturals, the only organic linen dealer to show at the market.  An absolutely huge array of new products are on the way from them this year, including adult quilts and duvet covers - the duvet covers covering a very broad color pallet.  In their baby line, look for new crib bumpers with colored boarder piping and organic cotton flannel receiving blankets that are going to be huge in the marketplace!  A new sheet color in green is also on the way, as well as a new line of shower curtains. 

The new duvet and shower curtains are going to be in a very durable organic cotton twill from India and is certified by Skal International.  If this new line doesn't propel HDN to the top of the bed linnen catagory, I don't know what will.

The other introduction from HDN were new decorator and accent pillows, some featuring coconut or bamboo buttons.

HDN is staggering their introductions throughout the spring and into summer, so don't look for everything to show up at once.  Introductions begin in March.

So, that was the market from an organic perspective.  Natura boasted their best market ever as their push into mainstream continues, and the outlook for organics in 2008 is surprisingly strong given the state of the overall economy. 

In my next blog, I'm going to feature a review of several of the Vivetiqe-Natural Bedroom pillows I've been trying.  Talk to you then!