Flower Power With Purpose - This Is How Padg Is Making A Difference

This company provides the tools to start a pollinator haven in every home in the UK. Padg Made hits with flower power and good vibes encapsulated in their beautiful creations. 

Padg is a brand of vibrant and gorgeous smelling vegan candles and plantable greeting cards offering exceptional products with an extra purpose.

Padg was founded in lockdown by Nate and his partner Paige in their little flat. Their first candles were made on the kitchen hob! Since then, it has grown quite a bit, as they say, and now have a dedicated unit, Padg HQ - 4 times the size of their flat!

Lockdown was a strange time; they both had to keep busy. Like many people during that time, they were both furloughed from their regular jobs and suddenly had a lot of free time. One of their main ambitions has always been working for themselves and running their own business. Both of them always dreamt of doing something creative. The pandemic gave them the opportunity and, even more importantly, the time to make this dream a reality. Both Paige and Nate are creatives: Paige studied fine art at university, and Nate studied illustration. 

Nate explains: "We knew we wanted to create a brand that could do some good in the world; we didn't want to make something for the sake of it. It needed an extra purpose."

Nate decided to use his illustration background and started developing a brand identity and planning what they could do. He prepared a professional slide show, and one evening he pitched the idea and brand concept to Paige. How did they come up with a name for the brand?

"The name Padg, by the way, is my nickname for Paige. We thought it was a playful, fun and most importantly, unique name – just perfect for the brand we were creating," Nate explains. 

Paige is a jewellery designer sharing her genuine passion for preserving nature through her artwork. Nate admits she is a massive inspiration for him and the brand he's been creating.

Nate says: "When I came up with the whole identity, I looked to her for inspiration. She is a talented resin artist and preserves real flowers into keepsakes and jewellery. You guys have to check her work! - She mainly does that now whilst I concentrate on Padg."

He continues: "We are always surrounded by vibrant flowers in our garden and home - so this was the building blocks and basis of Padg."

The creative duo did a whole load of research and found that most candles on the market were very similar; they all had the same muted-colour-pallet branding. They instantly saw an opportunity to offer something different. Something more vibrant, with more personality, more oomph!

Nate says: "You could replace one candle brand with another and not even notice… The candle market was crying out for some originality!"

The founders of Padg say they are not just a candle company. They want their products to be a vehicle for positive environmental change. One of the brand's core aims is to get people to plant more wildflowers to help save the declining population of bees. 

"Here in the UK, we have lost 97% of our wildflower meadows, and this is having a devastating effect on our native bee population…not to sound too extreme, but without bees, there's no us," says Nate. 

The brand offers vibrant scented vegan candles, wax melts and plantable greeting cards. Every Padg candle includes a packet of wildflower seeds to encourage their customers to take matters into their own hands and do something great for the environment by starting their very own pollinator havens at home.  

Moreover, Padg candle packaging was specially designed to be the perfect starter pot for the seedlings. It's shaped like a plant pot.

"It's so simple – just plant nectar-rich wildflowers with every purchase. Both candles and cards are full of wildflowers that pollinators will love. You'll never need to throw a card away again; plant it instead! - says Nate.

Padg's founders believe that business owners have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure they create environmentally conscious products. And that's why Padg has ethics and sustainable processes built into their business. 

Currently, the brand is focusing on launching with The Vegan Kind, growing the business and making customers and bees happy. 

It seems like their customers are already happy. As one of them wrote: "Oh wow, love what you're doing! The logo and concept is brilliant, so colourful, it made me smile." 

That perfectly encapsulates what Nate and Paige want to achieve with Padg. Good vibes whilst making a difference.