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Today candles are usually made from paraffin wax, because the use of petroleum by-products is economically advantageous. However, paraffin wax has its shady side – when burning, it poisons the air of the room by releasing chemicals into the air and creating black sooty sediment. Environmental considerations include the fact that petroleum is a non-renewable resource and as an ingredient of paraffin delays its biological decomposition. Practical domestic considerations are that the stains of paraffin wax can be nasty, and often impossible to remove.
Over two years ago Elīna Čīma (student of Business Administration at the School “Turība”) and Ieva Dekstere (B.A. from the Art Academy of Latvia, Faculty of Visual Arts, Textile Art Department) experimented in their home workshop, trying to find a recipe for a candle that burns for a long time, doesn’t smoke with black soot and is not harmful to people’s health or the environment. Beeswax, soy and palm wax are considered to be natural raw materials for candles (animal fat is not included in the list for humane reasons). Elīna and Ieva chose soy wax, which was discovered fairly recently in the candle making world – in the early 1990s. The recipe and concept of the product had been decided upon, and in the late 2008 Munio, Ltd. was founded and began to manufacture the product line Munio Candela. When asked why a Latvian business had chosen soy wax, which has to be imported from the US as soy flakes, rather than, for example, beeswax, Ieva Dekstere responds, “Bees wax is a pleasant material, but it is very soft and therefore burns quickly. We started our candle making experiments with bees wax, but without added ingredients the candle melts down, transforming into a pile of wax. In the first half of this year we will present a new product for Munio Candela - canola wax candles, which are a more familiar raw material for Latvians and Europeans.”
Over just a year the business has grown larger than its original two-person enthusiasm, has moved into a more expansive workshop space and now has six paid employees, including experienced candle makers. “When founding the business, it was clear that the range of products had to be expanded and opportunities for export had to be sought,” says Munio co-owner Ieva Dekstere. The two high-achieving business women have reached their aim over a short period of time. “By participating in exhibitions in Tokyo and Paris (Interior Lifestyle Tokyo in June 2009 and Maison & Objet in Paris, September 2009 – A.I.) we gained useful experience and contacts to later market our products in Japan and Europe.” Munio Candela products can be purchased in shops in Copenhagen, Paris, Vincennes, Dublin, Wolfsburg and Rome. Last August a contract was signed with a distributor in Japan. Currently a daughter company is being established in the USA, which will be in the same line of business as Munio. And from 30 January to 4 February Munio Candela products will be included in the New York International Gift Fair. Future plans include conquering the Russian market. The local market, of course, has also not been ignored – the candles can be bought in a number of places in Riga, as well as in Latvia’s regions: Cēsis, Daugavpils, Kuldīga, Valmiera and elsewhere. Advertising has not been very intensive, because this new business still needs to refine and develop its marketing, and so far the information has been disseminated mainly by the interested media.
Thus far Munio Candela has developed two collections. The first one was Naturella, where the candles are decorated with plants from Latvia’s pastures. The inspiration came from ancient Latvian herbal medicine and plant combinations based on the seasons. The newest collection Villa is based on used and recycled materials – glass jars with a wooden wicks, which create the effect of a crackling fire, and empty wine bottles, which have been collected from Riga’s restaurants and reworked in a glazier’s workshop, cutting off the top of the bottles so that a candle could be inserted. Ieva Dekstere has a simple answer when asked about their strategy for the future to stay afloat in the market during a time of economic change, “Our plan is to expand our collection with new products and to create variations with new raw materials.”
DS: What was your original target audience? Has anything changed over time?
Ieva Dekstere: The original target audience was our relatives, friends and acquaintances. The business was founded when we started receiving orders also from other people and from shops. Our target audience – contemporary, clever and ecologically-minded people.
DS: What is the proportion of your own desires versus the demands of the market? Do the collections that are meant for the local market differ from those that are meant for sale in other countries?
I. D.: The vision, design, and range of Munio Candela products are decided by us one hundred percent (Ieva Dekstere and Elīna Čīma – A.I.). We try to abstract ourselves from the standard fashion and generally accepted rules. The candle culture differs in each country, so the demand is also different, although we offer both collections equally in all countries. For example, the collection Naturella with its dried plants is very popular in Japan, but in Europe it is Villa with recycled wine bottles and jam jars.
DS: Is the use of ecologically-friendly materials one of the main keys for successful entry in the foreign market? How is this valued by the local consumer?
I. D.: The use of ecologically-friendly raw materials is our conviction! The foreign market does not have to be convinced of the special qualities of natural things. The Latvian consumer, on the other hand, is very sceptical of anything new and unknown.
DS: How do you determine your pricing policies?
I. D.: Our prices in Latvia, other European countries and Japan are the same, because it would be very time consuming to study the income levels in each country, so that the candles could be priced accordingly. Right now we can’t afford to do it.
DS: Has the economic crisis changed the demand in Riga, in Latvian regions and elsewhere in the world?
I. D.: Munio, Ltd. started its activity at a time when the symptoms of the crisis were already appearing, therefore we can’t compare how things would have been before, in the “fat years”. The demand for the Munio Candela changes seasonally.
DS: Do you think that it would be possible to start and develop this kind of business in Latvia also now, with the economically difficult conditions?
I. D.: If the founder has a real interest and a creative idea, this or any other type of business definitely has potential.
