How Much Fragrance Oil Should I Buy for Diwali Candle Production?

Kilos by run size

Most makers sell a Diwali range, not a single product: a proper jar candle for gift boxes, a smaller tin for add-ons and office desks, and a small velvet heart for return gifts and hampers. The working mix on this page is 40 White Matte jars at 200 g, 40 Golden Aluminium Tins at 85 g and 20 velvet hearts at 50 g per 100 pieces, all at 8%. Replace the mix with your own; the method stays the same.

The jars carry nearly two-thirds of the oil (640 g of the 992 g) although they are only 40% of the pieces. That is why a range that leans toward jars needs much more oil than one that leans toward tins and hearts, and why the mix matters more than the piece count. For a range that is all 200 g jars, use 1,600 g per 100 pieces instead; for all tins, 680 g; for all hearts, 400 g.

The per-scent columns assume an even split. If one scent will sell more — a sandalwood or a spice often leads a Diwali range — weight it, and see the 500-piece split guide for how weighting changes packs and cost. The 5% allowance is a working assumption for pour loss, jug residue, top-ups and test burns; the bulk wedding quantity guide explains what it covers and when 3% is enough.

Committed vs speculative stock

Split your plan into two lines. Committed is everything with a customer attached: corporate orders, pre-booked hampers, stockist orders. Buy oil for all of it, with the 5% allowance. Speculative is stock for walk-in, exhibition and online sales that you expect but cannot count. That buffer is a commercial decision only you can make; we do not have data on how many candles any maker sells at Diwali. What we can show is what each buffer adds in oil, so you can see the stake before you place it.

Two rules keep the buffer honest. First, buffer only your proven scents: put the speculative kilos on the oil that has sold for you before, not on a new scent you are trying for the first time. Second, buffer in oil, not in poured candles, where you can. Unpoured oil in a sealed bottle can move to the wedding season or next year's range; a poured Diwali candle with a festive label is harder to sell in December. If you can pour to order during the festive weeks, hold the buffer as oil and wax.

Buying each festive oil at the right size

Diwali oils are not priced alike across sizes. Some reward the kilo, some are flat, and one pair is cheaper at 500 g than at 1 kg. The table covers five festive candidates, each in stock at every listed size. We have not published throw measurements for any oil; these are chosen for festive fit and price structure. Mogra and Rajnigandha are out of stock in every size on the 24 September pull and are not offered.

Saffron Cedarwood is the case to remember. Its 500 g is ₹2,584.20 and its 1 kg ₹6,867.60, so for about a kilo you should buy two 500 g bottles for ₹5,168.40, not one kilo — a saving of ₹1,699.20 on the same oil. Cinnamon goes the conventional way: ₹5.90 a gram at 100 g and 500 g, ₹5.31 at 1 kg, a 10.0% break at the kilo. Dark Vanilla Oud is ₹5.90 at 100 g and ₹5.69 at 500 g and 1 kg. Gilli Mitti is ₹8.96 at every size from 50 g, and Palo Santo ₹6.02 — for those two, the pack mix is only about covering the grams.

A priced 300-piece Diwali range

Here is the mixed range at 300 pieces, 100 in each of three scents — Cinnamon, Saffron Cedarwood and Dark Vanilla Oud — which means 120 jars, 120 tins and 60 velvet hearts in total. Each scent needs 1,041.6 g of oil with 5% allowance; wax is 34,224 g, or 35,935.2 g with 5%. This is committed stock only; add your buffer on top.

That is ₹187.21 per piece on average across jars, tins and hearts, before labour, packaging, freight and GST. The oil is ₹17,173.80 of the total; the wax (₹21,564.00) and the White Matte jars (₹8,496.00) are each larger. A 20% speculative buffer on this range is about 625 g of oil. Held on your most proven scent rather than spread across all three — say Cinnamon — that is 1 × 500 g + 1 × 100 g + 2 × 15 g for ₹3,752.40. For the same range as a dated plan, see Diwali gift candle production.

After Diwali: the leftover plan

Whatever you buy, some oil will be left on 9 November. Plan for it now. The November–February wedding season starts almost immediately, and warm florals, sandalwood and vanilla-oud cross over well into wedding favours and gifts; wedding favour candles and the bulk wedding quantity guide pick up from here. Spice-led oils such as Cinnamon are more seasonal and are better sold through in winter ranges. Keep leftover oil sealed, cool and out of direct light; storage life is not stated in our published data, so ask on WhatsApp for guidance on a specific oil.

For choosing which oils to put in the range in the first place, the gifting hub maps scents to recipients. For buying volumes beyond the listed packs, the wholesale guide explains the quote route, and the bulk supplier checklist covers what to confirm before relying on one supplier for the whole festive season.

Frequently asked questions