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A Portuguese company founded during the pandemic began to produce in Guimarães, at the LEIPER factory, heavy blankets composed of treated glass grains of sand that “reduce stress” and help “combat muscle pain”, revealed today one of the founders.
Speaking to Lusa, Ricardo Parreira, one of Blanky’s founders, explained today that the idea of exploring the market for heavy blankets, “visually similar to a quilt,” arose after Pedro Caseiro, also the founder of the company, had difficulty sleeping.
“Pedro worked in London (UK), he had some back pain and difficulty falling asleep due to anxiety and ‘stress’. It was then that he found the heavy blanket that allowed him to combat the pain he had and have better hours of sleep, “he said.
In January, Ricardo Parreira and Pedro Caseiro began to explore the market for heavy blankets, a still recent product on the market, as well as its development and manufacturing process, and they realized that “there was no unit in Europe with the knowledge and the production capacity to develop this textile ”.
“We realized that there was nothing like this in Portugal or Spain and we began to investigate more on the subject. In June, when we did the most thorough research, we started to develop the company. Fundamentally, we believed in our idea and it worked, ”he said.
After consolidated research, the founders faced “additional challenges”, not only because they launched a new product in times of pandemic, but also because the textile industry was “unfamiliar with the product.”
According to Ricardo Parreira, heavy blankets are “visually very similar to quilts”, and in Blanky’s case they are made of 300-thread-count cotton and treated glass sand grains, a material that gives this textile additional weight.
“From the beginning, we wanted to produce in Portugal, but none of the factories we visited was familiar, neither with the product nor with the production process. At that time, it was a challenge, ”said Ricardo, adding that it was at the LEIPER factory in Guimarães that they found the answer they were waiting for.
Despite some “challenges” in terms of production, the Guimarães company “manages to produce six blankets per day, with a minimum of 120 units per month”.
The objective of the founders of Blanky is now “to optimize the production process” so that, “in the near future, the efficiency of the plant increases” and they are able to “significantly increase the average number of heavy blankets”, which may vary between four and 15 kilos.
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