Our history

Our story starts in De Posthoorn, an old brewery in Hamont, which Hendrik Jan Spaas transformed into a wax bleaching shop. It bleached beeswax for sale to monasteries and abbeys that made candles. People in Italy were also happy as the opera Il Trovatore premiered. 

While the Eiffel Tower was being built in Paris, the small company moved to Sint-Huibrechts-Lille. Part of the company was equipped as a cigar factory.

After the closure of the cigar factory, the wax bleaching shop moved back to Hamont. The candle making shop was modernised by Gerard, Henri & Jozef Spaas and production was expanded. Unfortunately, it didn't win us the Nobel Prize, which in that same year was awarded for the first time.

The family company was turned into the public limited company called NV Kaarsenfabriek L. Spaas en Co. It was not until 1980 that it became NV Spaas Kaarsen. That was the year when Chairman Mao founded the People's Republic of China.

The company celebrated its 100th birthday and numbered approximately 60 employees. Unfortunately, one year later a fire broke out that burned down the entire factory. The Netherlands was hit by disastrous flooding.

The company relocated to its present site. By now demand for household candles and fantasy candles had increased significantly. Sales markets in the Netherlands, France and Germany were also growing strongly. 

The production process was automated still further. Regrettably, the company was unable to take advantage of the power outage in New Zealand that lasted more than 66 days.

A production site was opened in Poland. Demand for scented and glass candles increased, giving birth to new concepts. In the United States, several mortgage banks found themselves in problems, ushering in the financial crisis.

Spaas attracts attention during commemoration of the First World War and succeeded at the Christmas market in Mechelen in lighting up Europe's biggest candle, with a height of almost 4 meters and weighing approximately 2.2 tonnes.

Spaas wins the prestigious Family Business Award of Excellence 2022. A crown for family entrepreneurship. In addition, Spaas Belgium blows out 170 candles and Spaas Poland 15 candles. To celebrate, Spaas took the whole company to Poland with a visit to the plant and a grand party to conclude.

Spaas achieves EcoVadis Gold label. This places Spaas Candles among the top 5% of best performing companies worldwide in terms of sustainability within the label. These are further steps within the sustainability strategy.