About Spaas
Quality & Craftsmanship
The picturesque Hamont in Limburg, Belgium is our home base. In 2023, our team proudly celebrated the company's 170th anniversary.
Spaas began as a pioneer in the wax bleaching industry for monasteries and abbeys making candles. The second generation specialised in handmade church candles. The third focused on domestic use with functional emergency candles. Over time, more and more ‘value for money’ lifestyle products followed.
Innovation, steady growth and automation paved the way for the company's prominent place in the European candle market today. Ben and Sarah Spaas are the proud shareholders who can count on 350 dedicated employees in Belgium and Poland. Even the young sixth generation is already inspired by its precious heritage and unstoppable creativity. Family is an integral part of Spaas' DNA. This is reflected in loyal partnerships in more than 40 countries. Fostering more connection between people is the sincere mission of our authentic brand.
What a flame can do
For more than 170 years, Spaas stands for real and authentic connection. Today more than ever, we believe in the connecting power of every flame.
That is why we dream of a world where everyone can and may feel connected. Because we too are still amazed at what a flame can do.
Spaas, what a flame can do
Our history
Our history starts in De Posthoorn, a tavern where the stagecoach was supplied with fresh horses, which Hendrik-Jan Spaas converted into a wax bleaching plant. It bleaches beeswax by exposing it to the sun, which was sold to monasteries and abbeys as a semi-finished product to make candles.
Theodoor Spaas, Hendrik-Jan's son, continues the business. He moves the wax bleaching plant to Sint-Huibrechts-Lille. He introduces a second raw material, paraffin, in addition to beeswax.
Brother Louis Spaas takes over the business and moves the wax bleaching plant back to Hamont. Churches start buying candles instead of bleached beeswax, so Louis decides to start producing beeswax candles. In 1911, the first machine is commissioned, a mechanical dipping machine. In 1920 and the following years, the candle factory is further modernised by Louis' four sons – Gerard, Henri, Alfons and Jozef – and production expands to include household candles. In 1933 the moulding machine makes its appearance and in 1935 stearin is added as a raw material.