Swazi Candles

Swazi Candles was started in an old cowshed of a former Dairy in 1981 by 2 South African art graduates. In those days The Kingdom of Swaziland was a haven of freedom and refuge and proved to be an excellent place for setting up a Craft Cottage industry. The mountainous countryside was beautiful, the Swazi people being warm and friendly and receptive to training soon proved to be fine handcraft workers and skilled artisans and ideal partners for our industry. Swazi Candles began to develop a distinctly Swazi ethnic flavor and style! The little workshop soon gained a reputation for producing unique candles and started attracting visitors from far & wide and was destined to become one of Swaziland's premier Tourist attractions. By the mid nineties the humble cowshed workshop had burgeoned into an industry that employed over 200 local people and exported candles all over the world. Our candles are now in top stores in Europe & North America. We believe strongly in the principles of Fair Trade and are members of WFTO (WORLD FAIR TRADE ORG). Our candles have just been accepted into the 'Wereld Winkel' Fair Trade group of stores in The Netherlands. Our workers are part of the decision-making processes and we have systems of Health Care, Pension Funds, Food and Travel allowances and Funeral Insurances in place! Today although the candles are world-renowned. we are proud to say each is still made and finished by hand and no two are the same! The only difference is that the range has grown into an astonishing array of patterns, shapes and designs that no catalogue can ever really capture completely. We hope we shall be able to carry on well into the 21st century producing beautiful candles for our customers world wide.