Ecoya vs Glasshouse vs NZ-made candles: who makes them, where, and what you pay

Who makes Ecoya candles?

Ecoya describes itself as "an Australasian Fragrance House". Its about page says it was "founded in Australia, designed and made in New Zealand"; its story page puts it as "founded in Australia, designed in New Zealand and inspired by Australasia". It sells candles, diffusers, room sprays and body care, and its candle range is soy wax with cotton wicks.

The ownership has changed more than the branding suggests. AVCJ's account of the company's history says it was founded in 2004 as Ecoya, that a stake was bought by The Business Bakery in 2008, that it listed in 2010 and bought the Trilogy skincare line, and that the company was then renamed Trilogy International. In March 2018 the Overseas Investment Office consented to CITIC Capital acquiring 100% of Trilogy International, at $2.90 a share, about $203 million in total. The OIO decision describes the company as manufacturing home fragrance and body care, with Ecoya one of its brands.

We have not found a public record of a sale since then. If ownership matters to your purchase, it is a fair question to ask the brand directly.

Who makes Glasshouse candles?

Glasshouse Fragrances is Australian. Its own how-it's-made page says co-founder and CEO Nicole Eckels started the brand after moving to Australia from the United States, and that "we have continued to manufacture and hand-finish our candles in Sydney": hand-wicked, hand-poured, hand-trimmed and hand-polished in its Sydney factory.

The same page says its relaunched candles moved "from a paraffin wax to a soy blend wax", and that "triple scented" refers to using three times the amount of fragrance generally used in the industry. Its product pages describe the wax as a soy blend with lead-free cotton wicks, and say New Zealand orders ship from an Auckland warehouse. So it is a candle made in Australia and sold here, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to buy; it is just not a New Zealand-made one.

Ecoya vs Glasshouse: how do they compare?

On price they are effectively the same candle: about sixty dollars for a large jar. The difference that matters to a buyer is scent style, which is personal, and burn time, which only Ecoya states. A burn time is the one number that lets you compare a candle's value with any other, which is why we work out cost per hour wherever a maker publishes one.

Is Ecoya a New Zealand-made candle?

Its about page says made in New Zealand, and we have no information that says otherwise. Two things are worth knowing, though. The brand was founded in Australia and its parent has been overseas-owned since 2018, so "New Zealand brand" and "New Zealand-owned" are different claims. And the brand's own pages word it two ways, one saying made in New Zealand and one saying designed in New Zealand. The Commerce Commission's position applies to every brand equally: a "Made in New Zealand" claim "must be accurate, able to be substantiated and must not mislead consumers". How to tell a candle is made in NZ covers what to look for on any label.

How do they compare with small NZ makers?

On cost per hour, closely. Ecoya's Madison, worked out on its stated maximum, sits inside the range we found for New Zealand-poured candles from small makers; the cost-per-hour guide has the table and the sources. You are not paying a large premium for either the big brand or the small one.

What differs is everything around the candle. A small maker usually pours in batches, in one place you can name, and often publishes the wax, the wick and the burn time because customers ask. A big brand gives you a consistent product you can buy in a department store and replace in the same scent in five years. Neither is wrong. If you want the candle to be made here by someone you could visit, the NZ makers we name are where to start.