Local manufacturers of home and personal care solutions, Candlex Limited, recently introduced Bliss Body Lotion on the market.
Bliss is a lotion that targets the middle class with an upmarket quality standard, yet still remains affordable to most Malawians.
Candlex Limited brands manager Mike Pendame says the lotion comes in variants, including Bliss for Men, Bliss Instant Hydration and Bliss Aloe Vera.
“We believe Malawians deserve quality cosmetics,” he says.
The company has also introduced Bodycare Hand Sanitiser in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
“We observed that Malawians have been swindled their money the past few weeks by being sold sanitiser at exorbitant prices as high as K1 500 for a 50 ml bottle. We are offering our Bodycare Sanitiser at K250 only.
“It has 70 percent alcohol among other essential ingredients. We want Malawians to be protected from 99.9percent of germs when they consistently use our sanitiser,” Pendame says.
As one of local businesses, Candlex Limited hails the Buy Malawi Strategy (BMS) for helping them gain brand visibility through different initiatives.
“In 2019, we participated at an Easter Eggstravaganza event at Chichiri Shopping Mall in Blantyre courtesy of BMS. In 2018, we were part of Shop Storming events BMS organised in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
That aside, we have enjoyed radio and television airplay courtesy of BMS. Our various brands have also been featured on BMS website and social media page,” he says.
Pendame believes that BMS is a good initiative with potential to boost the country’s local production.
He notes that if consumers and customers understand and buy into the BMS ideology, demand for local products will increase.
“This will put pressure on local companies such as Candlex to not only increase investment, but also offer competitive quality products at par or beyond those from other countries. Through this, BMS has potential to lower unemployment levels as well,” says Pendame.
Candlex urges BMS to focus not only on encouraging consumption, but also supporting local businesses to enhance production capacity which, in turn, will drive improved product quality and cost competitiveness.
He adds that BMS must devise a strategy to reward locally produced products through benefits that are accrued to businesses that drive ‘Made in Malawi’, rather than finding cheaper imported options.
Pendame reckons that this will easily encourage Malawians to buy Malawian products and then build Malawi.
Candlex Limited is driven by the belief in offering high quality products at affordable prices. For years, the company has served the Malawian market with toilet soaps, laundry soap, candles, body lotion, glycerin, perfumed jelly, floor polish and now hand sanitiser.
These products are marketed under various heritage brands, including U-Fresh, Butex, Bodycare, Moonlight, Bliss, Mamas Care, She n He and CDX.