Goodbaby International Group owns a number of internationally recognized brands such as CYBEX, gb and Evenflo, offering products with innovative design, state-of-the-art technology and brilliant safety features. Justin Gillett, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Goodbaby International, outlines the history of Evenflo and divulges details about the diverse product range, the newly started Evenflo Gold line, the design and manufacturing of the products and also on the market reach of the brand in an exclusive interaction with Mommy & Baby Times.
February 18, 2019
Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio; Evenflo Company, Inc. was officially acquired by Goodbaby International Holdings Limited in July 2014. The Goodbaby Group designs, researches and develops, manufactures, markets and sells strollers, children’s car seats, cribs, bicycles and tricycles and other durable juvenile products. The core products by Evenflo include car seats, strollers, portable play yards, and stationary activity centers.
The company’s product offering ranges across a broad assortment of essential infant and juvenile product categories. Within Evenflo itself, there are three major business divisions- Evenflo, Evenflo Gold, and Exersaucer, which offers a comprehensive and extensive range of products for babies and kids.
A 100 year legacy
Evenflo traces its history back to the Pyramid Rubber Company in Ravenna (Ohio) that was founded in the year 1920. Initially, the company started its trajectory with manufacturing products related to baby feeding. It was in the 1960 that Evenflo began marketing 12 different nursing kits which was the first of its kind, offering various collections of sterilizers, bottles and accessories. In 1995, Evenflo Company, Inc. was formed through the merger of Evenflo Juvenile Products and Evenflo Juvenile Furniture Company (previously called Questor Juvenile Furniture Company).
“With Evenflo Gold, we would like to introduce products which have upgraded technology and also demonstrate the innovative approach which has always been the fulcrum for us at Evenflo.”
Evenflo Gold
The Evenflo Gold which was launched in September, 2018 offers a range of innovative car seats and strollers. Justin Gillett says “our chief intent behind starting this Evenflo Gold line was to introduce a better distinction within the brand. With Evenflo Gold, we would like to introduce products which have upgraded technology and also demonstrate the innovative approach which has always been the fulcrum for us at Evenflo.”
Product lineup of Evenflo
Evenflo offers products in five comprehensive and eclectic categories- Car seats, Wheels, Home, Wearables and Feeding. Within the range of ‘Car Seats’, there are accessories, infant car seats, convertible & all-in-one seats, booster seats, while ‘Wheels’ has a range of accessories, strollers and travel systems. ‘Home’ has a wide assortment of gates, playards & portable beds, high chairs, activity centers, stationary jumpers, doorway jumpers and some of these products are mutually shared with Exersaucer. Under the classification of ‘Wearables’, the brand offers various types of carriers and ‘Feeding’ has a range of baby feeding bottles and accessories.
Exersaucer offers a range of activity centers, stationary jumpers and doorway jumpers available in various colourful themes designed to appeal to toddlers and children.
Evenflo Gold which is the recently launched line by Evenflo has SECUREMAX, i.e. Smart Infant Car Seat with SafeZone Load Leg, PIVOT XPAND which is a Smart Modular Travel System and EVERYSTAGE that is a Smart All-in-One Convertible Car Seat. The products in this line has a patented SensorSafe™ technology that is built into the clip of the car seats and strollers, SensorSafe connects to an app and sends alerts immediately to the phone if the baby gets unbuckled or the car temperature gets too warm.
“We’re the pioneers and the trailblazers to do the roll-over testing where we have a testing device that mimics a car rolling over for safety.”
On design, manufacturing and R&D
As pointing to the manufacturing and the safety technology adopted by the brand, he explains “one of the manufacturing facilities for the brand is located in the USA and we have a testing lab also. We’re the pioneers and the trailblazers to do the roll-over testing where we have a testing device that mimics a car rolling over for safety. And we are the only people in the industry who are doing this.”
About design and the role of the Deming Cycle in the development of the products, he says “in terms of design, I would like to mention that our design team is quite huge with over a 500+ people. In the USA, we have our design teams in various locations such as in Miamisburg. With the recently started Evenflo Gold line, our prime focus is on bringing products having advanced and state-of-the-art technology. As a matter of fact, with each of our brand arms- Evenflo, Evenflo Gold and Exersaucer, we understand the value of sustained innovation in the products that we bring in to the market.”
“The main market for us is in the USA itself. However… we have been able to establish a strong presence in APAC, some regions in Africa and in South America as well.”
Market reach of the brand
Referring to the market reach of Evenflo, he states “since our brand is headquartered in Ohio, USA; the main market for us is in the USA itself. However, we have always been striving to expand our reach in an organic way; in fact, we have been able to establish a strong presence in APAC, some regions in Africa and in South America as well. We are always looking to explore and tap the unexplored markets/regions for the brand and we are keen on doing that in a well thought out way.”
