Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1547510
NEARLY a year ago, just before Christmas, the first Huggah mattresses arrived in Maltese homes. It was a big ask at the time: trust a brand-new mat- tress, made right here in Malta, using a foam nobody had heard of. Some people took the early leap and loved it and then they told others. Ask Huggah owners what changed, and you'll hear the same four things. They sleep deeper, they stay cool through warm Maltese nights, they wake up without that familiar morning stiffness, and they've stopped feeling their partner turn over at 3am. "It's the best mattress I've ever had," said Steve Mercieca, CEO of QLZH Group. "I thought morning pain was just something we had to live with. Now I wake up refreshed after a full night of deep, uninterrupted sleep, and my Oura Ring sleep score now sits in the mid-80s and above, night after night." It all comes down to the foam. Huggah is made from Zetic®, developed in Malta by Smart Materials together with the University of Malta. Ordi- nary foam spreads out when you press on it. Zetic® pulls in towards you instead, so it feels soft when you first lie down and quietly firms up wherever your body needs the support. One layer does the job, other mattresses stack three, four or even five for and still struggle to achieve. The brand has been growing steadily and not only among home sleepers. This autumn, Huggah moved into one of the executive penthouse suites at ME Malta, in the Zaha Had- id-designed tower in St Julian's. It started with a single night, when Neal Debono, General Manager at ME Malta, pur- chased a Huggah for person- al use to solve a long-stand- ing back issue. Once he slept on one, he decided his guests should wake up feeling the same way. "Having experienced the comfort of the Huggah mattress myself, I wanted my guests to enjoy the same level of relaxation and restful sleep, especially after a day spent ex- ploring Malta," he said. For Dr Keith M. Azzopardi, Huggah's CEO and co-founder, a hotel suite is the most honest test there is. "Hotel guests don't read the spec sheet. They just sleep," he said. "If they wake up and ask what they slept on, that tells us more than any review." Athletes have been asking the same question. For them, sleep is where the real training hap- pens. Some of Malta's best al- ready sleep on Huggah, among them Yazmin Zammit Stevens (Olympian, Weightlifter) and Neil Agius (World Record hold- er, Longest Open Water Swim). Further afield, it is now being tested by Premier League-level teams and by athletes ranked in the top 10 in the world in their sport. "Your training doesn't stop in the gym, on the field or on a track. Recovery is where the magic happens and sleep is vital. This is why Rise Group has partnered with Hug- gah, we see big gains in sleep and ultimately recovery" said Matthew Camilleri, Founder of Rise group. "You can train per- fectly and still lose the edge if you sleep badly," Dr Azzopardi added. "When people whose careers depend on recovery are testing a mattress made in Mal- ta, that means a lot to the whole team." Which brings us to what's next. Europe has already no- ticed: Huggah has just been selected as a winner of the EIT Regional Innovation Booster – Malta Edition, backed by the European Institute of Innova- tion and Technology. Most re- cent was Bordeaux, pitching at INPHO®, where top investors from 24 countries hand-pick who gets on stage. Malta was always meant to be chapter one, and chapter two is about to begin, with Huggah opening in Rome and Denmark. "We come from a small island and proved a revolutionary tech- nology in Maltese bedrooms as a first step," said Dr Azzopardi. "Now we get to show the rest of Europe what Malta can make." Before it packs its bags, the best way to understand Zetic® is still the simplest one: lie down on it. Sleep consultations can be booked at huggahsleep.com 6 COMMERCIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 NOVEMBER 2026 Huggah's big first year: From Maltese bedrooms: the mattress that hugs you back hits the road to Europe Seven days at sea. Who would you take? YOUR partner, who usually leaves the holiday planning to you? A friend you keep saying you should travel with? FCM Bank's Christmas Giveaway could give you a reason to finally make those plans. This Christmas, one winner will receive a seven-day Medi- terranean cruise for two aboard Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas. A surprise to share and a holiday to look forward to. The giveaway is open to per- sonal retail customers who open a new or renew an eligible FCM Bank Fixed-Term Deposit by 30 November 2026, depositing and maintaining at least €2,000, in accordance with the competi- tion terms. Qualifying custom- ers are entered automatically. Taking part doesn't mean moving your everyday bank- ing. The Bank's message, "Keep your bank. 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