Meet the Maker: Hollow Tree Candle Co.

Can you provide a short introduction to Hollow Tree and your products?

How did the journey to starting Hollow Tree unfold?

Hollow Tree Candle Co. was founded in 2014 by Tobias Douglas and Grant Parnell, both partners in life and in business. Tobias and Grant were both tree planters and foresters from Canada. The initial idea for the company came to Tobias when she dreamed of capturing the scent of a specific moment in time. While tree planting, there’s an instant when you’re standing in a spot in the middle of a freshly logged forest. It might be seen like a sad moment, but you’re there to restore hope to the ecosystem. And somehow, there’s always this one lone pine, standing tall in the open space. This was what she dreamed of capturing. The two of them spent several years in development, meticulously crafting scent profiles until they lived up to their expectations. When they felt they had perfected the product, the first candles were launched in 2016. Hollow Tree started as a brand that captures memories through scent, and that mission has continued over the last 10 years.

Rebecca Verstegen took over the brand in 2022 and is the current owner of Hollow Tree. We sat down with her this month to learn more about one of our favourite Canadian candle companies! Her journey to owning the company seemed almost fate like. Rewind the clock twenty years and on a European vacation, she went to a scent distillery in France and fell in love with the smells and process. It turns out, this is the same distillery Tobias and Grant use for Hollow Tree. At that point, she earned their trust and was a part of the family.

Who is the team behind Hollow Tree?

Hollow Tree is a Canadian based, woman-owned and run business. The team is Rebecca! Throughout most of the year, she’s operating the business by herself. As a small company, orders and workload can ebb and flow throughout the seasons. During the rushes, there are a few very special people she lets in. She’s learning to lean on others for things like labelling and packaging. But truly, Rebecca finds it therapeutic as she handcrafts each product that Hollow Tree puts out, from scent creation to pouring and bottling.

What is the leading intention and inspiration behind the scents and products you create?

There are a few things that provide Hollow Tree with inspiration. As we mentioned above, nature is the leading guide for all the scents and products they create. Their namesake candle ‘Hollow Tree’ smells of Western Red Cedar and is based on the 800-year-old cedar stump that has become a Stanley park landmark. Golden Spruce was crafted in memory of the rare golden needled Sitka spruce tree that was felled on Haida Gwaii. These fragrances will take you right to the center of a dense forest. They’re also two of our favourites that you’ll always find at Confluence.

The special nature of so many of these scents also come from personal memories and experiences. We’ll share a bit more about this later on, with a sneak peek at some future fragrances. Two other guiding lights for Hollow Tree are the local community and sustainability. There’s a specific set of questions that Rebeccas asks herself when creating products. “Does the market want it? Do people want it? And is it going to be sustainable?”.

Why are your scents created in France?

Though headquarters is located in British Columbia, the scent oils Hollow Tree uses come from France. We were curious why they choose to craft their scents in Europe and asked Rebecca about it. Hollow Tree has worked with the same fragrance distillery since their inception. Each oil they use has been crafted by hand by a small team in Grasse, known as the world perfume capital. This is something they will never compromise on.

The French way of creating scents is very specific. Scent notes created here come in nine different profiles, 3 base notes, 3 middle notes, and 3 top notes. This means that each fragrance Hollow Tree releases has nine different scents that come together and make a perfectly balanced and well-rounded oil.

Tell us how Hollow Tree embodies the principles of sustainability?

The quality of the ingredients and the packaging used in the Hollow Tree products is a hallmark of the brand. First off, the candles they create are made using coconut wax. The wax comes from the husk and oil of the coconut, minimizing use of food resources to make the product. Aside from the sustainability benefits, this wax also has a longer and cleaner burn, which is ideal for the consumer. The essential oils used for their fragrances are all derived from plants and meet the highest quality standards. You won’t find any synthetic fragrances at Hollow Tree!

Rebecca is constantly working on making the business even more sustainable. One way is through their packaging. Most of the products are housed in aluminium, ceramic, glass, and/or paper. They avoid plastic whenever possible. However, it’s always a balancing act to stay sustainable and ensure the quality of the packaging. Before releasing their diffuser oils, Rebecca was on a mission to find metal lids. Unfortunately, at this time, there are no medical grade bottle options that don’t use plastic lids. So, this will be a future endeavour, as well as the potential for refillable products.

What is your process for creating new scents or products?

All the scents crafted at Hollow Tree are born from a memory and are meant to evoke them in others as well. Each candle or oil can bring up a memory, unique to the individual experiencing it. We’ve been lucky enough to have Rebecca shed some light on a few new scents she might be creating soon. The first comes from one of her most powerful childhood memories. She vividly remembers planting sweet peas every year with her mother and grandma in the garden each Spring. From that recollection, Rebecca has started the process of crafting a new scent profile that will become a part of the future product line.

As a little bonus, have you ever wondered why some candles have more scent power than others? Rebecca shared that it comes from the pool of melted wax that the candle produces. Which means the quality of the oil and the quantity of the fragrance oil in the wax is what’s making the difference. The coconut wax in Hollow Tree’s candles is the perfect vessel for these scent molecules. The use of high-quality plant derived essential oils, and the coconut wax are what make Hollow Tree’s products stand out. The quality and care put into these products means you can feel good about bringing them into your home.

How does Hollow Tree inspire the wild within and connect people to place?

Now is the perfect time to introduce you to “Learn to Speak Tree”, a trademarked phrase coined by Hollow Tree. The question that Rebecca gets asked most is ‘what does it mean?’. Her first response is that you can really interpret it however you’d like. Ultimately, it means to connect as a community and support people in a natural and organic way, just like the trees do.

“They [trees] provide shelter for us, for other lumber or animals like bears. Bears live in the hollows of trees, so do little owls, and woodpeckers. They [trees] provide oxygen. They communicate throughout the forest. You know, if one tree needs more water than another, they'll direct it to that tree, rather than keeping it themselves. When a tree falls over in a storm, eventually, that tree will become a nurse log.”

It’s also about connecting with nature and being attuned to your surroundings. When you’re out for a walk in the woods, touch the trees and the moss covering their bark, this is a way of learning to speak tree. And while we always advocate for getting out in nature, Hollow Tree does also help bring nature into your home.

What is the life that you dream for your products?

“Scent is so powerful – It’s like giving your mum a hug after you haven't seen her for so long, she has a certain smell. I think that's the core reason why a lot of people make scented products, and why we chase after them… It brings you back to a time and place more than any photo. The smell just transports you to a moment in time.”

When someone picks up a Hollow Tree candle, Rebecca’s wish is that they have an instant and guttural response. She wants those memories to flood into people’s systems. That they can’t wait to get home and light it and have the fragrance envelope their whole house.

Though, the dream life for a candle might not even include burning it. Some Hollow Tree lovers keep their candles for years and years because they just can’t let go of some of the scents, especially if it’s a smell that has been discontinued.

Explore our collection of Hollow Tree Candles. 

All product photos by Nikkey Dawn