Some moments feel bigger than business.
On May 30, 2026, we gathered customers, friends, family, partners, and team members to celebrate a milestone that has been years in the making: the next chapter of Fontana.
The location made the announcement even more meaningful.
The building where we hosted the event was once the very first retail store to carry Fontana candles. Long before national recognition, before hundreds of thousands of orders, before collaborations and television features, someone took a chance on a small candle company with a simple mission.
At the time, we had no roadmap. No major following. No proof that the idea would work. Just a belief that people cared about what they were bringing into their homes.
Years later, returning to that same space to announce the largest expansion in our company's history felt like a full-circle moment.
Fontana's story started with a simple need: a candle that could actually be burned at home.
Years ago, our co-founder Katie Roering struggled with chemical sensitivities and chronic illness. Candles were something meant to create comfort and relaxation, but became something she couldn't tolerate. As Katie and Eric searched for alternatives, they became frustrated by the lack of transparency within the candle industry.
Products were labeled "clean" or "natural," but ingredient disclosures often left more questions than answers. So, they began making their own.
The first candles weren't perfect. Beeswax and coconut oil are difficult ingredients to work with, and creating beautiful scents using only pure essential oils came with its own challenges. What started as a personal project quickly became an obsession.
How do you create a candle made with ingredients you genuinely feel good about burning in your home? How do you create beautiful scents without relying on undisclosed fragrances? How do you create a healthier candle without sacrificing the experience people love?
Over time, those questions became the foundation of Fontana.
Our mission was never simply to make candles. It was to create products that don't compromise human or environmental health, made without hidden ingredients or toxic secrets, and products people can trust.
As we grew, that mission resonated with people in ways we never could have imagined.
Messages began arriving from supporters with migraines, asthma, chronic illnesses, and chemical sensitivities. Parents were looking to create healthier homes for their families and some had stopped burning candles altogether.
Again and again, we heard the same thing: "I can finally burn candles again."
Those stories continue to fuel everything we do.
While Fontana may have started with two people pouring candles, it quickly became something much bigger.
Today, one of our greatest strengths is our team.
Every day, our team shows up with a shared commitment to our mission, our products, and the customers who trust us. From production and fulfillment to customer experience and marketing, every person plays a role in helping bring Fontana to life.
Over the years, we've reached milestones that once felt impossible. We've fulfilled more than 100,000 orders and have had opportunities to be part of national conversations around healthier home products. We've collaborated with brands we admire and watched our candles be featured on national television programs like The Today Show and The Price Is Right.
But growth also brings challenges and one challenge became impossible to ignore. We had officially outgrown our space.
Every shelf, table, and corner of our current facility is full. Multiple team members share office spaces and production areas are operating at capacity, while storage space has become increasingly limited.
The reality is simple: we've outgrown the building that helped us get to where we are today.
At the same time, our candles remain hand made. Each candle passes through approximately 38 individual touches before it reaches your home. That commitment to craftsmanship has always been something we're proud of, but as demand continued to grow, we found ourselves asking an important question:
How do we continue growing without sacrificing the quality, transparency, and care that make Fontana what it is?
That question guided countless conversations and decisions over the past year. Ultimately, it led us to Fontana 2.0.
During the event, our founders officially announced that this September, we'll be moving into a new 26,000-square-foot manufacturing and fulfillment facility right here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
This expansion will allow us to:
Increase production capacity significantly
Improve operational efficiency and workflow
Thoughtfully implement automation where it makes sense
Provide more space for our growing team
Continue building what will become the largest truly all-natural candle manufacturer in the United States
What started as a small project in our founders' home has grown into something far beyond what anyone imagined.
Expansion is exciting, but it's also a little scary.
What people don't always see behind company growth are the difficult decisions, investments, and uncertainties that come with moving into a new chapter. But throughout this process, one thing has remained constant: our commitment to the mission that started it all.
We believe consumers deserve transparency and healthier home products. We also believe companies can grow without abandoning their values.
Fontana 2.0 isn't about getting bigger simply for the sake of growth. It's about building the infrastructure necessary to support a mission we care deeply about.
It's about serving more people and making truly natural candles accessible to more homes.
None of this would be possible without the people who have supported us along the way.
Whether you've purchased a candle, shared our story, partnered with us, worked alongside us, or simply cheered us on from afar, you've played a role in helping make this moment possible.
As we prepare for this next chapter, we're filled with gratitude for everyone who has been part of the journey so far.
Thank you for believing in us, supporting transparency and healthier homes. And thank you for supporting a small business.
We're incredibly excited for what's ahead. Welcome to Fontana 2.0. 💛
