Who Owns Capri Blue?

Capri Blue is a popular home fragrance and personal care brand best known for their iconic Volcano candle. Founded in 1999, Capri Blue offers a range of products including candles, perfumes, diffusers, bath and body care, and more. Their signature item is the volcanic glass jar candle which crackles when lit, providing an aromatic and visually mesmerizing experience. Capri Blue aims to transport people to an island escape through luxurious fragrances inspired by the beauty of Capri, Italy. Over the past two decades, they have built a devoted fanbase drawn to their high-quality products, signature scents, and stylish yet minimalist branding. Though Capri Blue started small, today their products are sold through major retailers worldwide.

Founding of Capri Blue

Capri Blue was founded by JoAnn Ruskin in San Francisco, California in 2004. JoAnn had long been interested in artisan candle and home fragrance making while supporting her husband’s military career. After years of perfecting her unique, aromatic candle blends like Volcano & Ocean, JoAnn decided to launch her own business in the charming Russian Hill neighborhood in the city.

JoAnn had become inspired after receiving candles as gifts that evoked vivid sensory memories of travels and destinations like the Amalfi Coast with its lemon trees and Mediterranean sea breezes. This inspired the vision for Capri Blue to recreate those multi-sensory experiences through intricately crafted fragrances in candles and other home products.

Right from the start, JoAnn focused on sustainable and high-quality ingredients, placing an emphasis on the artistry and craft behind each Capri Blue creation. Her attention to detail and one-of-a-kind scents helped the brand quickly gain popularity in the San Francisco area.

Product Lines

Capri Blue is known for its luxury home fragrance and body care products. The core of their product line consists of soy wax candles and aromatherapy diffusers. They are available in a variety of signature scents like Volcano, Italian Citrus, and more. The diffusers come in beautiful hand-blown glass bottles that add a decorative element wherever they are placed.

In addition to candles and diffusers, Capri Blue offers accompanying products like room sprays, hand soaps, body creams, and perfumes. This allows customers to layer their favorite scents throughout their home. The bath and body products contain premium ingredients and skin-nourishing oils to provide a spa-like experience.

Capri Blue frequently releases limited edition seasonal collections centered around a scent theme. For example, their Winter collection may feature cozy scents like Fireside and Evergreen Forest. They also offer gift sets that bundle together a selection of their most popular products.

While home fragrances and body care remain at the heart of Capri Blue, they have expanded into lifestyle products as well. This includes items like textiles, apothecary jars, wall art, and more. Their brand aesthetic of Naturally Chic is translated into a variety of decor accents for the home.

Acquisition by Seda France

In 2008, Seda France acquired Capri Blue, seeing an opportunity to bring the brand’s signature scents and handcrafted products to a wider audience. Seda has a strong reputation in the beauty and home fragrance industry, having been manufacturing high-quality perfumes, candles, soaps and more for over 50 years.

The French company was eager to grow in the North American market and believed Capri Blue was the ideal match. Capri Blue had captivated consumers with its island-inspired scents like Volcano, but as a small company it lacked the sales and distribution networks to maximize its potential.

Under Seda’s ownership, Capri Blue gained the infrastructure, supply chain expertise and marketing resources to reach more retailers across the United States and Canada. Seda helped build brand awareness through digital campaigns and influencer partnerships, while staying true to Capri Blue’s artisanal roots and commitment to quality.

Growth Under Seda

After being acquired by Seda France in 2007, Capri Blue significantly expanded its global presence and product range. With the infrastructure and resources of the Seda France group, Capri Blue was able to propel growth in a number of key areas:

Product Lines – Capri Blue introduced a wide range of new candle fragrances, expanding from the signature Volcano, Sicilian Citrus and Linden Blossom to over 20 signature fragrances today. The brand also launched reed diffusers, perfumes, bath and body products, wallflowers and other home fragrances to complement the candles.

Retail Reach – Seda France helped grow distribution into department stores across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In the US, the brand expanded into major chains like Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and Anthropologie. The increased retail presence made Capri Blue a globally recognized home fragrance brand.

Overall, Seda France provided the scale, manufacturing expertise and distribution networks that enabled Capri Blue to significantly grow its product range and availability. This accelerated expansion transformed Capri Blue from a promising niche brand into an international market leader in luxury home fragrances.

Manufacturing and Sourcing

Capri Blue prides itself on carefully selecting materials and partners to craft its signature candles and home fragrances. The company sources premium ingredients, including glass, soy wax, cotton wicks, and custom fragrance oils, from suppliers in the United States and Europe. While raw materials largely come from American and European vendors, Capri Blue products are hand-poured and manufactured in facilities across Asia, including Vietnam, Malaysia, and China. The company works closely with manufacturing partners to ensure excellent quality control and safe, ethical working conditions. Despite offshoring production, Capri Blue maintains its brand identity as an American company dedicated to creating safe, clean-burning candles made with top-grade materials. The global supply chain allows Capri Blue to produce affordable, high-end home fragrances on a large scale while upholding its standards for quality, sustainability, and ethical production.

Retail Partners

Capri Blue has an extensive retail presence across the United States, with its products sold in major department stores, specialty boutiques, signature stores, and online marketplaces. Some of the major retailers that sell Capri Blue products include:

Macy’s – Capri Blue has a strong relationship with Macy’s, with products featured prominently in stores across the country and on macys.com. Signature scents like Volcano and Citron are Macy’s bestsellers.

Nordstrom – Another major retail partner, Capri Blue can be found in Nordstrom’s home fragrance section both in stores and online. Nordstrom highlights Capri Blue’s seasonal collections.

Anthropologie – Known for selling unique, artisanal brands, Anthropologie carries an exclusive Capri Blue collection featuring elegant packaging and proprietary scents.

Bed Bath & Beyond – As a leader in home goods, Bed Bath & Beyond stocks a wide selection of Capri Blue candles, diffusers, and more. Customers can even find rare, retired scents here.

Signature Capri Blue Stores – Located in select cities, these boutique stores offer the full Capri Blue product range. Store associates provide personalized service and guidance on bringing home the signature scents.

Signature Scents

Capri Blue is best known for their signature scented candles that evoke feelings of an island getaway. Their most popular fragrance is Volcano, a blend of tropical fruits, sugared oranges, lemons, and limes, melded with vanilla crème. The Volcano candle instantly fills a room with the crisp, bright scent of citrus fruits and vanilla. This wildly popular tropical scent has become synonymous with the Capri Blue brand.

Other customer favorites include Ginger Lime, Coastal Breeze, and Ocean. Ginger Lime combines notes of ginger, green tea, citrus, and sugar cane, creating an invigorating blend. Coastal Breeze captures the fresh scent of a beach vacation with notes of melon, white flowers, coconut, and sea spray. Ocean is an aquatic blend of sea salt, fresh ocean air, and sea moss.

Capri Blue is dedicated to creating signature scents that spark nostalgia and transport their loyal customers to fond memories spent relaxing oceanside. Their timeless, unique fragrance blends continue to set them apart in the home fragrance industry.

Environmental Initiatives

Capri Blue is committed to sustainability and minimizing their environmental impact. They aim to use eco-friendly materials and processes whenever possible. Some of their key environmental initiatives include:

• Using soy wax sourced from American farmers for their candles rather than paraffin wax. Soy wax is renewable and biodegradable.
• Sourcing glass for their candle jars from recycled materials. Their amber glass jars contain at least 30% recycled glass.
• Partnering with suppliers that share their values around sustainability. They seek to build long-term relationships with vendors that utilize green practices.
• Using essential oils and fragrances that are phthalate-free and contain natural ingredients whenever feasible.
• Moving toward minimal and recyclable packaging for their products. They aim to reduce waste at every stage.
• Donating a portion of sales regularly to environmental nonprofits that align with their eco-friendly mission.

As Capri Blue grows, they strive to continuously improve their sustainability efforts and reduce their ecological impact. This includes taking advantage of new technologies and materials as they become available.

The Future of Capri Blue

With continuous growth and expansion over the past decade, Capri Blue has an exciting future ahead. The company is focused on innovating new collections and home fragrance products to delight customers. Some of the growth plans include:

– Expanding their product lines to encompass more categories like gifts, apparel, and personal care items featuring signature Capri Blue scents.

– Launching more unique, proprietary fragrance blends for candles and diffusers. Their expert perfumers are currently testing new exotic scent combinations using essential oils and extracts.

– Increasing their brick-and-mortar presence by partnering with additional premium retailers across the United States and globally. The brand aims to make their products more accessible worldwide.

– Focusing on sustainable and eco-friendly business practices through renewable resources, recyclable packaging, and ethical manufacturing. This aligns with Capri Blue’s vision to be stewards of the environment.

– Developing an e-commerce platform to sell products directly to consumers online. This will supplement their current retail model and meet demand from loyal customers.

With a keen understanding of home fragrance trends and the industry, Capri Blue is poised for continued success. Their innovative, evocative products will continue delighting customers for years to come.