Comfort Products
Ms. Svartstein-Bourjade said the global candle market was valued at more than $10 billion in annual sales, with the United States as the largest segment, accounting for more than a third of all sales. She said that many fashion and perfume companies, including Dior, Frédéric Malle, Aqua Di Parma and Maison Margiela, had been expanding their lines.
“A side effect of the pandemic,” said Hubert Bocquelet, general manager of the French association of candle producers, the Syndicat Général de Fabrication des Bougies et Ciriers de France, “was positive for the candle industry, since consumers looked for comfort products, and scented candles responded to that need.
“Until last year the sales were positive, with steady growth,” he said. “This is apparently being challenged now by inflation in Europe, and it seems that some consumers are cautious and maybe buying less comfort products.”
Ms. Svartstein-Bourjade declined to disclose annual revenue of the company, which has been owned by the Blondeau family for the past 40 years. But she said Trudon manufactures a few hundred thousand candles a year and that “sales have mainly accelerated over the past five years — multiplied by almost four — along with a strong international expansion.” It has a total of 87 workers, including those in its shops around the world.
To keep pace with demand, the manufacturing plant “is nearly doubling in size, from 2,400 square meters to 4,400,” or from 25,835 square feet to 47,360 square feet, Mr. Pruvost said one recent autumn morning as he pushed open the doors of the existing structure, which resembled an airplane hangar. The extension has been built; workers now are completing the interior and expect to be finished by January.
