Origin

Why Sibicura is different.

Incense sticks are everywhere, and they are cheap. What rarely comes with them: what they are made of and who made them. At Sibicura we know both. Here is what is in the pack, where the holder comes from and who packs your parcel.

From flowers that would end up in the river.
The sticks

From flowers that would end up in the river.

Every day, tonnes of flowers are left over at temples in India. Much of it ends up in rivers, along with the pesticides used to grow it. Our sticks are made from exactly these flowers: collected, dried, ground and rolled by hand into solid sticks, no bamboo core.

The scent comes from plant oils that belong in the mix, not from a dipping bath. No charcoal, no saltpetre, no synthetic fragrance. Made by a women-led company in India, fairly paid.

Swiss made. Yours for years.
The holder

Swiss made. Yours for years.

Anima is our incense holder, made by Trelleborg in Switzerland from anodised aluminium. Anodising is not a coating: the surface is converted electrochemically into a hard oxide layer. Scratch-proof, heat-proof, nothing flakes off. That is why the holder still looks new after years.

It catches the ash, holds the stick safely and cleans with a dry cloth. Made under Swiss working conditions, with short distances to your door.

Packed in Winterthur.
Shipping

Packed in Winterthur.

Every order is packed and shipped in Winterthur by ESPAS, a social enterprise close to us.

Sets ship free.

What is inside a stick
Sibicura
SibicuraSolid all the way through: flower powder, plant oils, a natural binder. Nothing else.
Conventional
ConventionalA bamboo stick coated in charcoal and wood powder with saltpetre, dipped in fragrance oil and solvent.

Sibicura vs. conventional incense

SibicuraConventional incense
Base Flower powder from temple flowers, rolled solid Wood and charcoal powder on a bamboo stick
Scent Plant oils in the mix Synthetic fragrance oils, often diluted with a solvent (DPG)
Burning aid None Saltpetre (potassium nitrate)
Production By hand, women-led company, fair wages Machine-made, supply chain rarely traceable
Holder Anodised aluminium, Trelleborg, Switzerland Wood or ceramic, mostly from overseas
Shipping Winterthur, ESPAS Bulk warehouse, anonymous logistics

What is in the stick decides what burns. We do not promise clean air. We leave out what does not belong.

Our partners: Trelleborg Switzerland (holder) · ESPAS Winterthur (shipping) · a women-led company in India (sticks)

You get all of it in the Ritual Set.

Shop the Ritual Set
From the temple to you

How a stick is made.

  1. 01

    Collect the flowers

    What is left over at temples is collected instead of dumped in the river.

  2. 02

    Dry and grind

    The flowers are dried and ground into a fine powder.

  3. 03

    Roll by hand

    Rolled by hand into solid sticks, no bamboo core.

  4. 04

    Packed in Winterthur

    ESPAS packs your parcel, a social enterprise in our town.

  5. 05

    Five minutes for you

    Light it, set it down, breathe. The ember does the rest.