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Our story

Coir makers since 1972

Coco Industry started in Butterworth with Japan's Ikeda Bussan. Wholly Malaysian-owned today, and still run to a Japanese standard.

Rubberised coir sheets stacked at the Fibrelux factoryThe Fibrelux logo being embroidered on a mattress cover

Milestones

  1. 1972

    Coco Industry starts as a partnership of Ikeda Bussan of Japan, Marubeni and Tan Chong, processing coir for export to Japan.

  2. 1979

    Coir car seats for car makers.

  3. 1987

    Coir mattresses exported to Japan for hospital use.

  4. 1991

    The Fibrelux brand is launched, for export and the Malaysian market.

  5. 1992

    A new factory building is completed.

  6. 2004

    ISO 9001 certification.

  7. 2012

    Production goes formaldehyde free.

  8. 2013

    Fibrelux enters China.

  9. 2015

    Kenaf joins the range.

  10. 2017

    Kenaf mattresses go to China.

  11. 2018

    Kenaf mattresses go to Korea.

  12. 2020

    E-commerce and branding.

The factory

How a Fibrelux is made

Ten steps, from coconut husk to a finished mattress, all in Butterworth.

  1. Coconut husk

    Coconut husk

    Husks from coconut farms.

  2. Coconut fibre

    Coconut fibre

    Fibre combed out and twisted into rope.

  3. Vacuum clean

    Vacuum clean

    Dust drawn out of the fibre.

  4. Natural latex adhesive

    Natural latex adhesive

    Natural latex that binds the fibre.

  5. Needle punching

    Needle punching

    Needles lock the fibres into a mat.

  6. Vulcanisation

    Vulcanisation

    Heat sets the latex.

  7. Bandsaw cutting

    Bandsaw cutting

    Sheets cut to size.

  8. Fibre core

    Fibre core

    Sheets stacked into a core.

  9. Upholstery

    Upholstery

    The core sewn into its cover.

  10. A finished Fibrelux mattress

    Fibrelux

    A finished mattress, ready to go.

Exported to

Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Maldives, Russia, France, Belgium, Australia, Brunei and Singapore.

In our words

Read our story

We began our humble journey in 1972, and we started as a smart partnership of two entities, between Ikeda Bussan Co Ltd, a Japanese Conglomerate with a local Malaysian interest in supplying processed coconut husk fibres, more commonly known in the industry as “Coir Fibre”. Today, even though we are now 100% Malaysian-owned, the Japanese Culture of upholding High-Quality Standards, Stringent Management Systems & Dedicated Work Ethics remains fully ingrained in all aspects of our operations and in the brands we produce.

Since then, we have grown to be a leading producer of natural coir fibre around the ASEAN region and are also the best-known company for harnessing such natural fibres to be made into quality products of wide possibilities and applications.

In 1991, we proudly launched our very own mattress brand of international stature under the brand name Fibrelux, a rubberized coir mattress. Today, Fibrelux and our many other OEM Brands of mattresses, have greatly graced many homes and even in the hospitality industry, both locally and abroad. Especially in countries like Japan, our eco-friendly mattresses became an instant hit over there. Besides Japan, our products can also be found in Korea, China, Taiwan, Maldives, Russia, France, Belgium, Australia, Brunei, and Singapore as well.

The factory archive Fibrelux shared in 2013 →