Why we have had to raise our prices

Like many businesses across New Zealand, inflation has trickled it's way down to us and the result has been a significant increase in our cost of goods. I have desperately tried to offset these increases by buying in bulk, finding alternative suppliers and negotiating with my existing suppliers but unfortunately, I just can't out smart price increases as high as 36% (in some cases). As much as I love sharing my creative outlet with you all, NŌLA was founded to allow me to work, stay at home and provide for my family. The hours I pour into building this brand and business are hours taken away from my family; and without compensating myself fairly, it wouldn't be worth missing those precious moments. 

Regardless of our hands being tied, we wanted to take the opportunity to offer more value in exchange. We know that costs are rising every where and that for some families, these kind of products feel like a luxury - so we wanted to offer nothing less than luxurious. This threw us into reevaluating, reviewing, rethinking, redesigning and.... rebranding. NŌLA Candles will always be NŌLA (the name means too much! (ah)+(Is)LA) but we have redesigned our products to be more in line with our vision and values. 

1. New candle sizes

We wanted to create more diversity in our sizes to allow for every budget, big or small. We will now introduce a small sized candle of 100g (25 hour burn time) that is a great way for people to try new scents at a super affordable rate. These candles are actually CHEAPER than our previous classic sized; and we offer a discounted rate for a package of 3 (at $50) for those who want to try a few at a time. Our medium sized candle of 220g (60 hour burn time) make great gifts and our large sized candle of 400g (80 hour burn time) are great for those who absolutely love a scent and want to enjoy it for quite a while!

2. Improved retail packaging

The more candles we sell, the more we can contribute to our chosen charity: The Neonatal Trust. We felt that we needed to include more details on the exterior of our candle boxes regarding our charitable contributions, eco-focus and brand information to educate prospective customers what the point of difference NŌLA offers from our competitors. We also wanted to make it easier for you to quickly pop into a store and grab whichever scent you wanted, without having to turn them around. 

3. Wooden wick > Cotton wick

Wooden wicks are rising in the candle world - and for good reason! They not only create cozy ambiance with that beautiful crackle they let off, burn slower and cleaner; but are also more environmentally friendly choice. Cotton requires a lot of water during production, whereas one tree can make thousands of wooden wicks. Beyond this, major wooden wick suppliers actually replant trees in helps of giving back. 

4. Resigned labels

We identified some issues in our brand cohesion due to differing label sizes applied to our classic and grande sized candles. To correct this, we have redesigned our labels to be sleek and minimalistic on all of our vessels. 

5. More reed sticks for reeds

We furthered our testing with our reed diffusers and found an increase of performance with the quantity of reed sticks used. Because of this, you will find 8 reed sticks along with every reed diffuser (instead of 5). 

6. 200ml room sprays!

We wanted to increase the size of our room sprays to last longer. Room sprays are applicable in so many ways (find list here!) and so now you have more to enjoy!

7. Aluminium lids > plastic lids

I am super excited about this one! I think by now, we all know that plastic is a global problem. Every single piece of plastic is contributing to that problem. That is why we don't use bubble wrap, why we use eco-mailers, why we bulk buy our ingredients to cut down on plastic bottles. So to be able to cut out the plastic COMPLETELY - I am over the moon! We still have a black lid to be in line with NŌLA's branding but are so so so happy to say that there is not one single part of a NŌLA Candle that contains plastic. 

 

I know it may seem like everything has changed; and in some ways, everything has. We were totally swept away by how supportive our community was. I refer to NŌLA as a "we" but at the end of the day, it's just one twin mum who is eternally grateful for all the support. You have all given me the confidence to take these leaps, to invest in myself and my business. The things that haven't changed are the important things: awesome product, ethical business, kiwi run.