Craft Focus - April/May 2021 (Issue 84)

Scent-sational Emma Cawser, owner of TopDog Candles, talks about their beautiful products, their new wax melts and hints of what’s to come in the future Tell us a little bit about the history behind TopDog Candles. Where are you based? Who started the company, when and why? TopDog Candles is based in Birmingham, I love candles and wax melts and have done for many years. I’ve always been happy with the products I used. In 2018 I realised however, that I wanted to create a brand and product range that uses totally natural- based ingredients. Products that were eco- friendly, vegan-friendly, and cruelty free. So, after a year of testing and sourcing ingredients we came to the product range we have now and are very proud of what we’ve achieved. Why are you called TopDog Candles? We decided on the name TopDog Candles because we wanted to be different, a lot of our competitors all have similar name conventions. The name actually comes from our little dog, who thinks he’s much bigger than he is, so we sometimes call him TopDog! What company values do you hold? As a brand, we’re very conscious about the environment, so all our products are soy wax based, our ingredients are eco-friendly and even our packaging is 90 per cent recyclable (currently), hopefully with the ability to making it 100 per cent in 2021. Having the ability to make your home smell amazing and feel warm in the winter without polluting the air you breath in, is very important to us. What do you specialise in? Soy based scented wax melts, tealights and candles. How has your product range evolved over the years? What’s your most popular range? I’d say our brand has grown as much as the products, we try to keep with the current seasons throughout the year, by changing the scents we sell to match. This means, changing them every three months or so. The winter months are much more about warm comforts like cinnamon and apple; and in the spring we focus more on a floral range of scents. Will you be expanding your product offering? Yes! We try to add a luxury product such as maybe a Christmas gift set or a Mother’s Day gift set, for example. We also have some exciting new products coming out in the next few months that will really make our brand stand out. I can’t say much as we like to keep that information secret until the release. What I can say is that we’re looking at lots of options now and some of them will really surprise people. What sets you apart from your competitors? Our completely naturally sourced product range and our products are exciting, colourful and really stand out against our competitors. All our products are original and you can’t buy the moulds or designs we use off the shelf. Our logo of a paw print is our wax melt mould, and we feel this is one USP that other brands can’t provide. Do you visit any trade shows? We do visit craft fairs and would like to do larger trade shows in the future when they’re back open. If a retailer is looking for a sponsor for the stand or would like us to attend for a talk slot then please feel free to reach out to us. How did business cope during the Covid-19 pandemic and what are your plans going forward? Business was and is ok for us, we decided to use the time and rebrand our company to give it more character. This has worked well for us. During the pandemic, however, we found that our market became very busy with people at home, trying their hand at crafts and selling them through social media. This does concern us because these people are not insured or using CLP guidelines, we however follow all the appropriate regulations and are fully insured. 40

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