Oskar Schindler, the German entrepreneur who saved over a thousand Jewish lives during the Holocaust once stated: “A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle”. On the contrary, it gains from it.
It is perhaps that replicating attribute that makes it not only an element associated with warm and peaceful environments, but also an inspiration for pleasant moments and great stories. The biggest success story in the business world attests to it.
Despite of its impressive sales numbers (over 80 billion dollars in 2014), the diversification of its portfolio and the unstoppable increase on the number of transactions, the widely known Procter and Gamble’s (P&G) amazing outcome is that the story behind this gigantic group isn’t so; it even seems to have been left in the past. Only few people know that the first product by this group, which currently markets over 50 different brands across 80 countries, was in fact a candle.
In 1837, William Procter, an English immigrant dedicated to the manufacture of candles in Cincinnati, Ohio and James Gamble who left Ireland due to famine, decided to partner and settle a company named after both of them. The idea came from their father-in-law (they were married to sisters Olivia and Elizabeth Norris), who made them realize that the products that each of them were fabricating had a product in common: bleach. Though Gamble contributed with his experience in soap manufacturing, it was Procter’s candles that became the top product at their small company. Over the years, the “Star Candle” became the company’s symbol.
William and James opened their first shop at a small warehouse where the back became the production area. The manufacturing process needed a wooden kettle with a cast iron bottom. William Gamble was in charge of the shop and every morning he would roam the streets and would knock on houses, shops and steam vessels in search of raw materials; he traded soap bars for ashes and other useful materials.
These visionary entrepreneurs took advantage of their location and shipped their products beyond Cincinnati, through the Ohio River and railways that unified with the East’s main cities. By mid XIX century the company had grown, and in the 50’s they moved to a bigger factory closer to the shipping routes and storage yards, besides occupying a building downtown. The future was promising. By the end of that decade, Procter & Gamble sales reached one million dollars and had over 80 employees, surely important figures though small, compared to the 135,000 employees that the company reported a couple of years ago.
During the American Civil War the company obtained contracts from the Union Army to supply them with candles and soap. In addition to large profits, the operation allowed soldiers to try Procter & Gamble products, thus becoming loyal to the brand.
By the 1880’s decade the company’s growth was evident. They set up factories across the United States in order to meet growing demand and also launched a new product: “Ivory”, a soap that could float on water and that led the company into a new growth streak.
The popular “Star Candle” stopped being produced in 1920 due to lifestyle changes, brought about by the enabling of gas and electricity to households. As a result, many mistakenly predicted the end of candles, but time would prove that their charm would never be replaced by a lightbulb or any other modern device.
By the first thirty years of the XX century, Procter & Gamble purchased Thomas Hedley Co., based in England, hence turning into an international company and beginning a new phase, characterized by portfolio diversification and the establishment of several new business areas within the company.
And so, with the abrupt surge of new brands that are currently popular among millions of consumers such as Tide, Crest, Charmin, Downy, Pampers, Johnson & Johnson and Max Factor and the later purchase of Gillette (2005), P&G turned into the biggest consumer products company of the world and in the middle of this huge success they stopped making the candles that first started their company. But this wouldn’t be forever. In 2007, after almost 90 years, William Procter and James Gamble’s company started producing candles again and did it by setting a new precedent with the incorporation of Febreeze, the first scented candle with odor eliminator in the market. During combustion the patented technology gets rid of unpleasant odors and fills the air with a fresh scent, much like a “Star Candle” of the third millennium.
It was without a doubt a venturous comeback. Contemporary candles by P&G integrated into a wide universe of products. They’re certainly not the only option and they might have stopped being essential to the business but nothing will take their place in the story of a company that’s a global benchmark. After all nowadays 3 million times on a daily basis, some P&G product is used by people from all over the world.
And to think it all started with a candle.
