A Word with Yaasa CEO, Johannes Sauer
A Word with Yaasa CEO, Johannes Sauer
Yaasa is a world-class adjustable furniture company that intuitively adapts to improve their customers’ lives and incorporates CELLIANT into their popular (and unbelievably comfortable) blankets.
With Yaasa’s new web experience launching soon and continued partnership with us here at CELLIANT, we thought it was an excellent time to sit down (virtually, of course) with Yaasa CEO, Johannes Sauer, to discuss all things Yaasa and CELLIANT.
Thanks for joining us for this chat Johannes. Can you tell us how you first discovered CELLIANT and why you thought it would be a good fit for Yaasa?
Yes, well, when we launched our brand we started out with mattresses and we wanted to create something that would be complementary to that product offering. So, our immediate thought was blankets. But we didn’t just want your run-of-the-mill blanket, we needed something to make us unique and demonstrate our innovative spirit. Also, we wanted to have something that complemented mattresses but wasn’t tied to the bedroom exclusively. So we came up with the idea of a luxury throw.
Our introduction to CELLIANT then, started with surfing, interestingly enough. My product developer at the time and I were discussing what sort of technologies we could use and he had an Xcel wetsuit that, of course, is powered by CELLIANT. He was really into his wetsuit and thought it was so interesting the effect CELLIANT had when he was surfing. He could feel the difference in his temperature and energy and was just so intrigued by it.
So you really came to know CELLIANT as consumers first. Can you tell me about those first meetings with us at CELLIANT and how our partnership began?
We went down to Los Angeles and met with you at CELLIANT, now keep in mind, back then we were a really small shop, we were like two guys just showing up at your office, saying we want to use your technology. Your office had such great energy about it and the people were so nice, we walked away with CELLIANT socks, which I still use today, and let me tell you when I use them on flights my feet don’t swell. Obviously, we also walked out of there with all the information and connections we needed, as well as just a great feeling from the CELLIANT team.
We were extremely excited and launched a Kickstarter to make the first Infinity Blankets with CELLIANT. We had a great response and discovered more ways and innovations to create other blankets.
Yaasa offers the Elements and Infinity Blankets, both powered by CELLIANT. Can you tell us about the blankets?
For both blankets, the key components are organic cotton and, of course, CELLIANT. So they both offer luxury comfort and the restorative effects of CELLIANT’s infrared technology. But in the Elements Blanket, we add in a fiber called SeaCell which is made from seaweed. It’s organically grown and sustainably harvested in the fjords of Iceland. It has antioxidants and so offers protective features, but it also is a lot softer than any other textile I’ve encountered. So when you blend it with organic cotton, the Elements Blanket is amazingly soft.
What has your customer response been to your Infinity and Elements Blankets?
You know in retail, it’s common no matter what you’re making to get complaints but with our blankets, we have not had even one person complain or say anything negative. The feedback is consistently positive, people enjoy the blankets, and some feedback is from people saying they sleep so much better. And when you hear things like that, it makes me really proud that we are making something that is making people’s lives better. So it’s really been a grand slam home run for us.
What does the future hold for Yaasa?
We are moving from a sleep company focus to an adjustable furniture company. It’s always been at our core because we make adjustable beds, but now broadening that and moving into more furniture, such as office desks, that can be made adjustable to make people’s lives better. And in that process, we’re always looking at ways to incorporate CELLIANT into our new products because we love the product and consider it as one of our core technologies and partnerships.
