It is hardly called a blessing in disguise, but some of the poorest victims of super typhoon Yolanda said were it not for the donation of kind-hearted individuals, they wouldn’t have experienced sleeping comfortably on Uratex bed.
Of course, a sound sleep on a comfortable mattress would never compensate for the loss of loved ones and valuable pieces of property that the Yolanda victims had to endure in November 2013.
To Natividad “Naty” Cheng, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Multiflex RNC Philippines, the company behind Uratex, such narratives would never be erased in her heart and mind. The company donated thousands of mattresses for the victims of Yolanda in Leyte, where some 6,300 people perished in its wrath.
Naty is a big fan of charity, and among her biggest beneficiaries were the innocent victims who were caught in the crossfire during the infamous Marawi siege in May 2017.
In retrospect, Naty and her husband Robert started producing foam and mattresses with the brand Uratex in a makeshift factory built under a santol tree, with a small seed money in 1968.
The firm was registered as Polyfoam Chemical Corp., with a workforce of no more than 10 employees.
The couple set off on their entrepreneurial journey by trading in furniture and construction supplies. But they kept their eyes peeled for business opportunities that came their way.
So the Chengs ventured into foam production. Naty recalled that at that time, there was only one company that makes foam for the domestic market. It was using only one machine made in Germany, and procured its chemicals also from Germany.
But its output capacity was somewhat erratic, hence, the Chengs decided that filling the deficit could be a wise move.
Naty acknowledges that the first years of Multiflex were extremely challenging, and the burden became heavier with Robert’s death on Sept. 16, 2021.
There were employees who relied on her for their livelihood, and customers’ orders to deliver on time. Thus, business should go on, with or without her beloved Robert, Naty told herself.
“Our workforce has expanded, and the customers and suppliers were very kind to us. We had multinationals, and they themselves were goading us to go on, until our business kept growing,” Naty reminisced.
Even with palpable success already on hand, Naty kept her feet on the ground, maintaining the values of hard work, sacrifice, dedication and loyalty to customers and consumers.
She advises against extravagance, but not to be skimpy about capital expenditures.
Meanwhile, daughter Pinky and Peachy are a big help in corporate affairs.
Now passed its half-century milestone, the Uratex brand is deemed the leading foam manufacturer in the domestic market, with 25 plants nationwide.
The flagship company oversees other firms and partnerships as part of the Uratex/RGC Group of Companies. This 55-year-old enterprise now covers multiple business divisions including automotive parts and seats, foams and mattresses, monoblock and home accessories, fabrics and food packaging.
As a testimony to her achievements, Navy was adjudged the grand winner of the prestigious 2017 “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” by Ernst & Young and SGV Group. As such, she represented the Philippines in June 2018 in the “World Entrepreneur of the Year” competition held in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
