Bangladeshi feather pillow makers have set their sight on grabbing a market share in the US, as a local company made its first shipment of duck down-made pillows to America recently.
Trade analysts consider this a great stride towards diversification of the country's fast-growing export basket.
The US imports luxury sleeping feather pillows totalling over $4.0 billion annually mostly from China, India, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei and some African nations.
Bangladeshi company 'Taifa Expo' made its first shipment of such pillows to the US on May 14.
"We have sent the first consignment of 200 pillows to a New York-based company last week," said Kamrul Hasan Shimul, marketing officer of Taifa.
"Our company is manufacturing safe and quality feather pillows following the growing demand both in local and global markets," he told the FE.
Taifa typically exports jute-made products for the past seven years.
"The idea of feather pillows caught my attention as some of my friends do the job in China," Shimul said.
Collection of feathers, selection, extraction and finally making those safe for consumers is a long process, he maintained.
"We collect very fine soft feathers through our 200 agents who mostly garner those from households across the country," he said.
Shimul said, "We buy duck feathers at Tk 250-Tk 350 a kilogram from the agents."
Some 18 kg of plumes suitable for making pillows can be extracted from a maund (40 kg) of feathers collected from households, he added.
A normal pillow of local brands, made of cotton or garment by-product, costs a buyer Tk 350 to Tk 1,200, but a feather pillow costs a minimum of Tk 2,200 per piece.
Shimul said feather pillow is in great demand in western countries where consumers use this as a remedy for back pain, chest pain, insomnia and such.
"Local demand is also rising fast as we are now supplying such pillows to two local companies -- Folk Art and Prachyo Collection," he told this correspondent.
Fifty people work in Taifa to make quality feather pillows both for local and global customers.
Shimul said export price of a pillow, weighing 910-1000 grams, is no less than $40 now.
Asked, he said: "Our duck population is almost cent per cent organic, which encouraged us to collect duck down and their durability is much more than that of others."
"It has taken us five years to prepare ourselves for the global market," he went on saying.
A Taifa pillow comes with a 13-year warranty -- the longest in the globe, Shimul said.
Ruhul Amin, president of Bangladesh Agro-based Product Producers and Merchants Association, said a dozen firms have now jumped into this business after Taifa.
He said many local exporters send raw duck feathers to China and Chinese Taipei at $6-$7 per kg, totalling $1.0 million in feather exports.
Some of them have already become pillow makers.
Kazi Golam Ali Sumon, a member of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said it is a great move in view of export diversification.
The country has prospects to export feather pillows worth $500 million within the next five years if local manufacturers get loans at low interest rate and also get lab facility at low cost, he added.
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