With its root name derived from "Vita"- the Latin word for "life", the company has since its inception, till date, worked at contributing to every aspect to its synonym from the cradle to old age. It has produced quality domestic and industrial products that add absolute value and comfort to life for work, school, leisure, health, maternity and child growth. Established in 1962 by two giants; British Vita and Unilever, and listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1978, Vitafoam has become Nigeria’s most prominent and leading producer of Polyether, foam products, furniture, upholstery products and adhesives. Its initial breakthrough however, was as a result of an appointment of G.B Ollivant Nigeria Limited as a sole distributor in 1962, and an installation of a continuous polyether foaming plant in its first factory at Ikeja in 1966.
With an inevitable urge to expand its fast growing business, Vitafoam took a notch up the ladder by establishing the Aba Factory (Eastern Nigeria) in 1972 and the Kano Factory (Northern Nigeria). Mr. Norman Grimshaw (co-founder British Vita), on his visit to Nigeria, innovatively initiated an expansion programme for Vitafoam. With the Nigerian Promoter Decree No. 3 of 1977, companies were mandated to sell sixty percent of their share to the Nigerian public, thus in compliance with the decree, Vitafoam became a public company in 1978. Still on the expansion train, in 1979 and 1982 Sapele and Jos factories, respectively, were established. The orthopedic mattress branded “Galaxy" was introduced too in 1982. In spite of the gigantic economic and industrial unrest experienced in the country amidst internal issues in 1986, Vitafoam experienced a quantum leap to economic growth with recorded revenue of N1.02 billion in 1995.
Its success and performance as the fastest growing icon in foam manufacturing was rewarded with series of awards and encomiums from the Nigeria Stock Exchange, and the President’s award for excellence in Corporate Financial Report and Annual General meeting in 1999. In addition to this, were several awards of silver certificates from Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) for its manufacture of high quality products.
In 2000, Vitafoam capped it all by becoming the first foam manufacturing company in Nigeria to win the much craved International quality award NIS 9002 Certificate for its manufacture and sale of flexible and rigid polyurethane foam, fiber pillows, underlay and adhesives. In 2004, Vitafoam transferred her share registration portfolio to UAC Registrars Limited whilst growth and expansion were continually in motion. These new developments set off the need to further broaden prospects, thus in 2008 and 2009 Vitafoam Ghana Limited and Vitafoam Sierra Leone Limited respectively were established. However, treading the expansion trail further, in 2010, Vitafoam became a major shareholder of Vono Products and established two sister companies; Vitapur Nigeria (an insulations products manufacturing company) and Vitablom (fibre processing and soft furnishing company). Finally in 2012, it established its youngest inclusion; Vitavisco for production and sales of Visco elastic foam and Latex products.
In celebrating its 50th anniversary and sojourn of resilience, integrity and value adding from inception till date; it’s no doubt an icon of excellent performance that has permanently made its mark in history. With its virile board membership and its sea of young, seasoned and energetic workforce, Vitafoam can only tread on to further greater heights, giving comfort, quality, and uniqueness to life, all the way.
