Trade talk

Demi Pendakis Founder F.Y.G.

Why should a gift retailer consider stocking home fragrance products?

Home fragrance products are multi-faceted, making them the perfect gift. A good quality product will complement your interior, enhance your wellbeing, and evoke memory through scent.

Both a gift and an experience, they tell a story, and gift retailers can tap into these stories to enable them to sell the products to their customers. Once customers find a home fragrance brand they love, they keep coming back as well, which is another huge bonus for gift retailers.

What support do you offer gift retailers in displaying and selling your products?

Working alongside and supporting our retailers is a key part of our business ethos. We provide full POS, an extensive image library, social media and LinkedIn support, plus a blog, and PR opportunities.

We work hard to ensure our retailers have everything they need to be able to tell the stories of F.Y.G. and understand what makes the products so special. In this way, they can share their love for the brand with their customers and sales become much easier as a result. We can only grow if our retailers grow as well, so we are very much in collaboration with them. The past year has seen a boom in demand for many home fragrance items. How has trading been for you?

It’s been a big year for the brand so far. We are now sold throughout the UK with some incredible trade partnerships with brands such as The

Grove Hotel and Larks of London. In January, I agreed a new partnership with Anthropologie UK. This retailer, renowned for its unique and creative mix of products, will initially carry F.Y.G.’s Back to Basics and Memories Collections in its top UK stores and online.

January also saw F.Y.G. land Stateside, appearing at both the Dallas and Atlanta gift fairs. The brand has so far been taken on by 22 stores across the U.S., with more in talks. I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Kimberley Wahlberg and her team, who are distributing F.Y.G. throughout America. The response has been incredible, and I’m really excited to see how much the brand can grow overseas in 2023.

Next up for the brand is a brand-new collection of washes and lotions for the luxury international hotel market. I’m incredibly excited about the new range and it has been a labour of love ensuring the products remain true to the sustainable values at the heart of the brand, while still providing that luxurious experience when using them.

How will you continue to ensure demand for your products?

Growing up with the influence of my father’s fashion business, it was a natural progression for me to forge my own successful career in the fashion and design industry, and F.Y.G. has become the natural extension of my experience of, and love for, stylish, affordable, and sustainable design.

I understand the need for constant innovation, product development, and agile interpretation of consumer and design trends to remain relevant in the industry. I also understand the necessity for diversification - watch this space for exciting product developments later this year!

What scents and product trends do you predict will be big news this year?

All the research I’ve been doing as we develop new products for 2023 and beyond is showing that the key trend emerging is for bold scents.

I saw this coming as I started to develop our Seasons range, and worked towards accommodating the emerging trends of big florals, refreshing citrus notes, and creamy vanilla textures.

Our Spring/Summer Seasons candle burns for 60 hours and has been created to transport you from spring into summer. The bold, citrus-infused essential oils I’ve chosen for this are perfectly in tune with this fragrance trend. Set in a striking gold metal container, our statement three wick layered candle is not only aesthetically beautiful but, once lit, will subtly transform your living space, slowly burning through the first fragrant layer to reveal a new seasonal blend below.

The essential oils used in this collection are the spring scents of Cedarwood, Ylang Ylang, Neroli, Lemon, Orange, Galbanum, and Mimosa; and the summer scents of Orange, Rose, Geranium, Violet, Sandalwood, and Amber.

The next trend observation is one I’m particularly passionate about, and that is that consumers are demanding home fragrance products that are natural, eco-friendly and sustainable. This is absolutely at the heart of what we do at F.Y.G., and the conscious consumer is going to start dictating this trend growth over the next 12 months.

What does the future hold for this category?

The future is bright for the industry - reflected in the new brands emerging and the growth in consumer demands for quality, beauty and sustainability in home fragrance: the three pillars of F.Y.G. Post-Covid has seen the rise of independents who understand the story and want to stock products with meaning, authenticity, and increasingly, a commitment to sustainability.

What’s your personal all-time favourite scent?

F.Y.G. started with a scent: figs. When I was recovering from Covid in March 2020, my wife bought me a bowl of figs and the scent transported me immediately to my grandma’s garden in Greece. It was a totally transformative and much needed immersive experience, which led to me exploring how I could replicate it for others. It started my fascination with the direct link between scent and memory. This is why Black Fig will always be my personal alltime favourite scent.

In creating F.Y.G. it was important to produce not just another scented product but an immersive experience. What started as a desire to recapture my childhood joy of family holidays in Greece, developed into a project of encapsulating a range of significant and beautiful experiences from the past.

Vanessa Curry

Managing Director and Owner

Best Kept Secrets

Why should a gift retailer consider stocking home fragrance products?

A candle can make an ideal gift for a partner, family member or friend, especially if it comes with a sentiment that is just perfect for the recipient.

Our Just Because range offers a beautiful option for so many life milestones or celebrations. We have candles at sensible prices for special birthdays, weddings, retirement or simply to let someone know you’re thinking of them. Always, our candles are seriously scented and full of colour and sparkles. How will you continue to ensure demand for your products?

As a manufacturer of home fragrance products, we continuously work on keeping our range fresh, making sure there are several new items.

Starting off this year, we launched 10 gorgeous new fragrances. They are inspired by current designer fragrance trends, and are seriously scented and sure to fill your customers’ homes with beautiful new aromas. Examples include Silver Fern & Willow, Fireside & Cypress, Green Tea & Vetiver, White Flowers & Cashmere, Black Rose & Amber, and Rainbow Falls.

We have a second new product for 2023: our eco-inspired candle collection called Our Fragrant World. As a company, we’ve been looking at the way we impact our world. Lots of small changes can make a real difference. We have collaborated with Nicky Dawson, who is the designer and founder of Turtley Creative, and between us we’ve created a beautiful range of eco- friendly boxed candles. They are inspired by our fragile world and how we need to make change.

In a reusable glass tumbler, using a natural coconut wax blend, there is no palm and no soy. The gorgeous, printed box can be recycled and is made with FSC board and printed with vegetable inks. Even our signature sparkles and glitters have changed to be biodegradable. They tick so many boxes with today’s environmentally-aware customers. The new fragrances include Black Pepper & Birch, Café Rose & Warm Velvet, Mediterranean Citrus, Patchouli & Vanilla and Smoked Embers & Amber.

We believe that if everyone does their little bit each day to recycle and reuse, maybe the next generation will have a cleaner, greener and even more beautiful world to live in.