Votivo was acquired about 3 years ago by Grace Management Group. Many years ago, Bob Caldwell owned a bedding plant business with his wife. At a craft fair, his wife was so impressed with the amount of activity around one of the booths that she purchased the product and showed it to her husband. He recognized the material as scented vermiculite. Being in the bedding plant business, they had plenty of vermiculite on hand. They started making their own scented sachets to offset their seasonal plant business and their fragrance destiny was born. They created three fragrance businesses under the name of Grace Management: WillowBrook, Greenleaf and Bridgewater.
Having a nationwide sales force and a 300,000 square foot warehouse, they were looking to bring in another line that they could add to their distribution system. Votivo offered a luxury, high-end compliment to their exiting offering.
Votivo uses over 90% soy wax blended with other waxes for stability and rigidity so the candles don't melt while shipping. The wax is stored in containers in back of their factory. That way they can use the South Carolina heat to help keep the wax a 180 degrees to keep it from going solid in the tanks.
The wax is then brought into the factory in small batches and mixed with the fragrance oils. Votivo uses the same soy wax blend for every candle but they'll tweak the fragrance and the wick for the cleanest burn.
While the candles are not hand poured, Votivo candles are highly hand crafted as everything from that point on is done by hand. The wicks are centered on the bottom of the glass and then centered on the top. The wicks are trimmed to the perfect length and then the candles go under a heater to smooth out the tops of the candles.
All of the seals on a Votivo candle are threaded and pressed by hand. They are applied to the glass with glue and then secured with a light gun and the twine is trimmed by hand. All of the labels on the boxes and candles are applied by hand. Votivo candles are individually hand wrapped and trimmed before being placed in the box.
We were incredibly impressed with the amount of care that goes into creating a Votivo candle. We've always had a high respect for the Votivo brand, but after seeing the company and meeting the owners and the Votivo team, we left with an incredibly high regard for the business.
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