I sell mattresses under my own brand — what obligations do I have?
Own brand makes you the manufacturer
Whoever sells mattresses under their own brand name is in practice subject to the same obligations as the manufacturer who actually makes the mattress. The ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) links obligations not to whoever physically produces the mattress, but to whoever places the product on the market under their name or brand. If a company has mattresses produced at a factory domestically or abroad and then sells them under its own brand name, that company bears the same responsibility as a manufacturer that makes and sells everything itself. The underlying production factory does not disappear entirely from view, but the party holding the brand is the one who assumes the digital product passport obligations towards the market.
For whom this applies and for whom it does not
This applies to every company that places mattresses on the European market under its own brand name or own name, regardless of where the mattress was produced and regardless of the company's size. A bed specialist shop that runs its own house brand, a hotel chain that has mattresses made under its own name for its own use in the chain, or an importer that holds a brand over products manufactured elsewhere: in all these cases the same position as manufacturer arises. This does not apply to a shop that exclusively resells mattresses from existing brands without putting its own brand on them — that party acts as a distributor, with different obligations than a manufacturer. The distinction thus does not lie in who makes the mattress, but in whose name or brand appears on the product and in the passport.
From when is this mandatory
There is no fixed date yet. The ESPR itself is the framework regulation; for mattresses, a delegated act is still needed that works out the product group concretely, including the precise requirements for the digital product passport. According to the European Commission's work plan for the period 2025-2030, that delegated act for mattresses is expected around 2028, with the obligation entering into force thereafter. Until that act is published, the obligations from Article 27 of the ESPR do not yet apply concretely to mattresses — the framework regulation is already in place, the product-specific implementation is not yet. As soon as the delegated act is published, the date will be stated here.
What this means for the reader
For a company that sells mattresses under its own brand, the first step is to clarify that the role of manufacturer lies with your own company, even if production is outsourced. This means that the data needed for the digital product passport — materials, origin, composition and other product information — must be available from your own company or must be able to be requested from the production partner. From a practical perspective, it is therefore advisable to establish in contracts with manufacturers or suppliers that they provide the required product information, so that this information does not have to be tracked down later, when drawing up the passport. A second point is that the responsibility for keeping the passport available for ten years and correctly linking the QR data carrier to the product lies with the brand holder, not automatically with the factory that produced the mattress. If you already sell mattresses under your own brand, it is therefore wise to map out early which product information is already available and which is still missing, so there is time to fill these gaps before the obligation actually comes into force.
Where this is set out: Article 27 ESPR
Article 27 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) describes the obligations of manufacturers, and within the framework of EU product legislation it is standard that whoever places a product on the market under their own name or brand is considered a manufacturer and is therefore bound by the same obligations. For mattresses, this provision only becomes practically applicable once the product-specific delegated act for this product group has been established; until then, the framework is already in place, but the precise implementation for mattresses is still missing.
If you are already placing mattresses on the market under your own brand, it is best to start inventorying the material and composition data of the mattresses sold under that brand, and to make arrangements with the producer or supplier for the structured provision of this information. This way, once the delegated act and the date are known, there will be no backlog to deal with.
Where this is based on
The regulation itself is on EUR-Lex. We provide references per statement; you do not have to take our word for it.
What you concretely must do
What is expected of you
If you sell mattresses under your own brand, have them made and add your name or brand to a mattress that someone else has made for you, you are considered a manufacturer under the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) — even if you do not cut foam yourself or stitch a cover. Article 27 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) sets out the obligations of manufacturers, and those obligations fall to you in that case, not to the party that actually produces the mattress. If you are unsure whether this applies to your situation, that is a question answered precisely on Am I an importer or manufacturer according to the ESPR?.
Ensuring that the product passport exists and is correct
The expectation is that you ensure a digital product passport exists before the mattress reaches the market, and that the data in it matches the mattress actually sold under your brand. For a company with 10 to 100 employees, this usually means that someone — often from procurement or quality — becomes responsible for collecting the correct specifications from the production batch and arranging for the passport to be compiled. Who exactly has which role in that chain is described on Who is responsible for the product passport for mattresses?.
Being able to demonstrate the technical documentation
You are expected to be able to show the underlying technical documentation when a supervisory authority requests it. In practical terms, this means you must have not only the passport itself, but also the documents on which that passport is based: composition, material origin, test results. In a private label construction, that documentation is often held by the factory that produces for you, and the question of who then supplies and maintains it is precisely where the private label often creates friction.
Ensuring that packaging and information match what is actually inside
You are expected to ensure that the information the buyer receives — via the passport, the QR code on the label, and any accompanying texts — matches the mattress actually in the box. For a mid-sized company, this means that changes in the production line (a different foam type, a different filling supplier) are actually communicated to whoever manages the passport. What this means in practice if the composition changes is set out on do I need to update the product passport if I change the foam or filling.
Being able to take corrective measures
When a mattress proves not to meet the requirements, the manufacturer is expected to take action — adapt the product, remove it from the market, or inform the buyer. For a company selling under its own brand, this means there must be a line of communication with the actual producer to actually carry out such measures, not just to be able to promise them on paper.
State your name and contact details on the mattress or packaging
The mattress or packaging is expected to be traceable back to you as the responsible party: name, registered trade name or brand, and a contact address. This is usually a matter of label design, but it does affect the question of who counts as a manufacturer in the chain — a question that takes on different significance once production is located outside the EU, as discussed on My manufacturer is outside the EU — who arranges the digital product passport then?.
Where things go wrong in practice
A common situation: the brand switches factories — a cheaper producer in another country takes over — but no one updates the product passport. The mattress under the familiar brand now contains different materials, while the passport still shows the old specifications.
Another situation: the factory does supply a mattress, but no technical documentation that matches what the brand claims in the passport. Upon inspection, it turns out that the brand itself cannot substantiate anything, because all underlying data remained with the factory and was never transferred.
Also problematic: a brand sells the same mattress under three different name variants (for different retail chains), but only one passport was created. When one of the three variants is changed, it is forgotten that the other two must also be updated.
It also happens that a brand thinks the responsibility lies with the factory, because "they make the mattress anyway". However, once the brand name appears on the label, the obligation rests with the brand itself — the factory is then merely a supplier, not the party designated as a manufacturer under the ESPR.
A final recurring problem: when a product is modified (new filling, different type of foam), the sales catalogue is updated but the product passport is not, meaning the buyer receives different information via the QR code than what is actually in the mattress.
What you can record
- A written agreement with the production party about which data each party supplies for the product passport, and within what timeframe following a change in composition.
- An overview of all brand names and variants under which the same mattress (or a slightly adapted version) is sold, linked to the corresponding product passport.
- A contact point within your organisation responsible for keeping the product passport up to date, even if production is outsourced.
- The technical documentation of each production line, stored separately per brand variant, so that if a supervisory authority makes an enquiry, it is clear which document belongs to which mattress.
- A procedure for what happens when a problem is reported: who takes the initiative for corrective measures, and how the factory is involved in this.
- Agreements on liability between brand and producer, in case incorrect information ends up in the product passport — a matter that is further developed at who is liable if there is incorrect information in the product passport of a mattress.
For brands that sell through multiple channels, including their own web shop or marketplace, it is also advisable to establish how the product passport is linked to each sales point separately, so that the information remains consistent everywhere.
This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the legislation this platform concerns. We do not know your situation. If you are in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.
Written with AI based on the sources above, checked by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something wrong? Let us know — corrections are given priority.