Focus on Candles - CREMER Creates New 'Candle Competency Centre'

HAMBURG, GERMANY--(Marketwire - Dec 14, 2011) - CREMER, the family-led Hamburg group of companies, is strengthening its profile and proving how efficient synergy effects can be used to achieve a consolidated and competitive position within the raw materials market.

The cost and availability of the raw material paraffin and increased customer demand for sustainable products pose growing challenges for the candle industry, throwing a spotlight on the use of alternative fuels.

Traditionally, vegetable waxes -- products made by the company Oleo-Chemie -- are used to make candles. This is a market in which CREMER OLEO has been successful since the 1970s. Also active in this segment of oils and fats is the Neuss-based company Walter Rau AG, which has been part of the corporate group for many years and is an expert partner in providing tailored solutions for the industry.

As Franz te Baay, Managing Director of Walter Rau, puts it in a nutshell: 'Our highly specialised research and development department finds the right product solutions for almost every requirement.'

Both companies have established themselves as suppliers of vegetable raw materials on the candle market. CREMER OLEO focuses on stearin and palm wax, whereas Walter Rau works with hardened rapeseed oils and individual compounds, as well as its own formulations. Merging both product lines within the Group was therefore a logical step.

The company's owner Stefan Cremer adds: 'To find and exploit synergies within the Group is our aim and recipe for success.'

It should also be noted that organic raw materials for candles are already being marketed from both locations with increasing success.

'This is just one example of how the ambitious CREMER sustainability concept is being brought to life,' comments Patrick Knüppel, Cremer Oleo Global Unit Manager.

An innovative Candle Competency Centre has been established, which offers a range of raw materials especially tailored to the candle industry. Thanks to the use of sustainable raw materials, this range is both trailblazing and in tune with nature.

CREMER OLEO and Walter Rau AG are core members of the RAL Quality Assurance Association and work closely with the ECA - European Candle Association.