The new year is in full swing here at NI Candle Supplies and we’re excited to get started. Last year was great. With the feedback given and the continued loyalty and support of our customers, we were able to continue growing our business so that hobbyists and rising businesses could continue doing what they love.
We’ve got some great ideas, launches and other things planned for this year, but in this blog, we wanted to take an opportunity to give you all some instant updates and actions we’ve been working on recently.
Want to know when your favourite items are due back in?
To help make life easier, before Christmas we added a new feature to our listings so that you could easily see the expected restock date for items that have sold out. Here’s a quick reminder on how this works:
Date information with tbc - example late January (tbc): this means the goods have been ordered but have not yet left our supplier.
Date information only - example second half of December: this means the goods are on their way to us but have not yet passed through all of their connection points so a firm date is not yet known.
Date to be advised - this means the item is on backorder with the supplier and we do not have an estimated restock date at this point in time
Week commencing - example week commencing 9th of December: this means the goods are on their final leg to us and all going well, should be available again in the week shown.
We’re committed to transparency when it comes to what stock is coming in when and will update these dates as and when they change, be it because of a delay or because they have reached the next stage in their journey to our warehouse, we want to make sure our customers have all the relevant information they need.
Expanding our Warehouse
You may recall before Christmas, we also mentioned we’d be making changes to our stock management process to help with the stock outages we saw last year and the feedback given from the Customer Touch Point Survey.
We’re expanding! In terms of the space we have in our warehouse. This means we will now be able to hold more stock of your loved items in an effort to curb outages. We know this was a particular pain point last year but with our continued growth we know we need to work on this, therefore it will remain one of our main focuses throughout the year.
Updates to UFI
In June last year, we told you about the updates to new UFI regulations that were coming into effect from January 1st 2020. This has now been pushed back to January 1st 2021, giving you another year to prepare. We recommend you check out our blog on the topic here.
Changes to Fragrance Oils
To make room for some new, spa-inspired fragrance oils we’ll be releasing, we are discontinuing the following oils:
- Nectarine & Mint
- Black Musk & Pear
- Ripe Fig & Forest Berries
- Youthful
- Vanilla Caramel
- Fresh Pear
- Peach & Myrtle
We’ll be offering 20% off all these fragrance oils until they are sold out. Our candle making kits are also going through a redesign currently, therefore won’t be available to purchase until roughly the middle of this year.
What’s new with you?
With the new year, we also see growth in new businesses and new product launches. We love seeing everything our customers do and wanted to feature some upcoming brands to look out for this year:
Sensory Philosophy
“Sensory Philosophy was born out of a shared love of creating fragrances for our own homes. From here we realised there was a bigger market to explore when clients who came to our B&B in France wanted to buy the products that were in their rooms. NI Candles have been great at supporting us in our ideas as we have grown the business from its small beginnings.”
“We are both very excited about what Sensory Philosophy will bring to 2020. Based in two creative studios, one in the East of England and the other in the South of France, we are busy creating new ideas for products and services. Our first range of products, Botanical, has been created using NI fragrances, soy wax and Cambridge Amber and Frosted glasses for our candles. We’ve recently added diffusers and bath salts into the range. In the next few months, we are working on perfecting our Apothecary range, a carefully selected offer of bespoke EO blends made to order for our current client base and beyond.”
We love what you’re doing Sensory Philosophy and we’re so glad we could help. If you are interested in taking a look at their products, you can visit their website, Facebook Page, Instagram Page or contact them via info@sensoryphilosophy.com.
Clevedon Candle Co.
“We are a young couple who work full-time shift work in the NHS & Ambulance service. We started our candle making journey as a relaxation and therapeutic way to destress when we have time off. We make all our own candles in our kitchen in Clevedon. We only use 100% soy wax and vegan-friendly fragrance oils. We design and create our own labels as we were ex graphic designers. We love using natural products and like to be transparent with our making and creating to all our customers.
In 2020 the Clevedon Candle Co is also aiming to be 100% plastic-free and are work hard to become a complete carbon neutral business. We love this and fully support this eco-friendly business. If you’re interested in supporting you can visit their website or their Instagram Page.
Molly & Me
“Molly & Me is a small artisan business which produces small batch, hand poured 100% Soy Wax candles, melts, Beeswax candles, diffusers and bath products. We are truly committed to ensuring our products are as eco-friendly as possible. Our candles have wood wicks, ribbon wicks and untreated eco cotton wicks. All our fragrances are paraben free and 85% of are also phthalate free. We are also very proud that 70% of our raw materials are supplied from within Northern Ireland.
Our Soy Wax Candles are made from a pure and natural vegetable wax which is non-toxic, biodegradable and made from a renewable resource so it is an excellent environmentally friendly option. Our wax melts are packaged in recyclable clamshells and we are due to launch a new melt product in February which is completely plastic free. We are also introducing several other products to our range including soy wax tealights and wedding favour ideas. We also plan to incorporate our bath and candle products within a new gift range.”
We are amazed by how eco-conscious this business is and we are delighted to be able to help with this. If you’re interested in these products, you can visit their website.
Drumross Candle Co
“We are a new start-up luxury candle / diffuser company based in Rostrevor! We base all our scented candles around the Mourne mountains. We try to use all local products and are both very passionate about supporting local. Our candle is made with pure ingredients and is hand poured.
In 2020 we look forward to expanding our range into diffusers, and trying to do the right thing by the environment is a top priority. By thinking of ways people can reuse our candle containers and ways we can offer customers a discount when refilling is some of our ideas going forward in 2020.”
Welcome to the candle making community! We’re glad to be able to help you with your business ideas. If you’re interested in what Drumross Candle Co has to offer, make sure to check out the website.
Thank you, everyone, who applied to be featured in this months blog. We have some great new businesses arising and we can't wait to feature more of you in the future. If you have any questions about this blog or need any extra support you can leave a comment, contact us here or message us on Facebook!