Golden Glow Candles has been making candles in New Zealand since 1969 — longer than any other candle company in the country. Our factory sits at 30 Enterprise Street in Birkenhead, Auckland, and it’s where the core of our NZ-manufactured range is produced: taper candles, pillar candles, Festival brand church candles, and more. Here’s what goes into making a Golden Glow candle.
A Family Business Since 1969
Murray Davies founded Golden Glow Candles over 55 years ago. His son Glenn now runs the business, continuing the same commitment to quality raw materials and formulations refined over decades. In an era of mass-produced imports, Golden Glow remains one of the few companies in NZ still manufacturing candles domestically at scale.
That continuity matters. The wax blends, wick specifications, and pouring techniques we use today have been tested across millions of candles and refined to work well in New Zealand conditions — including our humidity levels, the ambient temperatures in NZ homes, and the burn behaviour that NZ customers expect.
The Raw Materials
Every Golden Glow candle starts with the wax. We use highest-grade paraffin wax for our taper and pillar candles — paraffin is the industry standard for good reason: it produces a consistent, drip-resistant flame, holds colour and fragrance well, and burns cleanly. For our scented soy candle range, we use 100% soy wax, which burns at a lower temperature and is favoured for home use and gifting.
Wicks are all-cotton. We don’t use metal-core wicks in our candles — cotton wicks provide a stable, consistent flame height and produce minimal soot when kept properly trimmed.
Our fragrance oils are selected for candle use specifically — not all fragrance oils are suitable for burning. We use only fragrances approved for candle applications and carefully monitor fragrance load to ensure each candle burns cleanly without the wick becoming overwhelmed.
How Taper Candles Are Made
Taper candles — our dining candles, wedding tapers, and coloured stick candles — are produced by either dipping or extrusion depending on the product type. Dipped tapers are made by repeatedly immersing a cotton wick in molten wax, building up layers until the desired diameter is reached. Extruded tapers are formed by pushing wax through a shaped die to produce a perfectly uniform candle in a single pass.
Our taper candles are available in 125mm and 250mm heights, in white, ivory, gold, silver, and a range of colours. The 250mm dining tapers are designed for approximately 8 hours of burn time — enough for a long dinner service without replacement.
How Pillar Candles Are Made
Pillar candles are mould-poured. Molten wax is poured into cylindrical moulds around a centred cotton wick, then allowed to cool slowly to prevent air pockets or surface cracking. Once set, the candle is released from the mould, inspected, and finished. The diameter and height of the mould determines the candle’s size and burn time — a 100mm diameter pillar can burn for 100+ hours.
Our Festival brand pillar candles — used by churches, schools, and event venues throughout New Zealand — are made to tight specifications for burn consistency, drip resistance, and flame stability. When a parish orders Festival candles, they know each candle will perform identically to the last batch.
View our pillar candle range →
Scented Soy Candles
Our glass jar soy candles are made by melting soy wax, blending in the fragrance at the correct temperature and load percentage, then pouring into glass jars around pre-centred cotton wicks. The ratio of fragrance to wax is carefully controlled — too little and the scent throw is weak; too much and the candle can’t burn cleanly. We test each fragrance blend for scent throw and burn performance before it goes into production.
Scents in our current range include Black Raspberry & Vanilla, French Pear, Sandalwood, and Cinnamon — all selected for their clean burn and true-to-label fragrance at room temperature and when burning.
View our scented candle range →
Quality Control
Every batch of candles we produce is subject to burn testing — we light sample candles from each production run to verify flame height, melt pool behaviour, scent throw (for fragranced products), and drip resistance. Candles that don’t meet our standards don’t leave the factory.
This commitment to quality is why Golden Glow has been the trusted candle supplier for NZ churches, restaurants, hotels, wedding planners, and households for over five decades. When you order from candles.nz, you’re getting candles made by a company that’s been perfecting its craft since 1969.
Visit Our Factory Shop
If you’re in Auckland, you’re welcome to visit us at 30 Enterprise Street, Birkenhead. Our factory shop carries the full range and lets you see and smell the candles in person before you buy. Or shop online at candles.nz — free shipping on all orders over $99 throughout New Zealand.
Phone: 0800 CANDLE (0800 226 353)