'I should investigate the Commerce Commission' - Ecoya's Geoff Ross

On Friday, media - including NBR - was sent an anonymous message relating to products made by NZX-Listed Ecoya.

Ecoya was founded by Geoff Ross - the entrepreneur best known for premium Vodka brand 42 below, sold to Bacardi for $138 million. Its investors include Sam Morgan and Rob Fyfe.

The anonymous messenger said they had laid a complaint with the Commerce Commission. A spokeswoman for the market watchdog confirmed that a complaint had been made, and that it was being investigated under the Fair Trading Act.

The spokeswoman would make no further comment while the investigation was underway. The anonymous complainant's note to NBR questioned whether Ecoya's scented candles were 100% natural and NZ made as claimed.

Mr Ross told NBR the company's scented candles were made in Australia. It did not make any made-in-NZ claims for the product.

He speculated that the anonymous complaint's section on 100% natural claims could relate to the candles' wicks, which he said were 100% natural cotton.

"We consider those type of statements carefully before making them," Mr Ross said.

"Perhaps Ecoya should investigate the Commerce Commission for wasting taxpayer money on vague complaints by anonymous tipsters," he joked.

Mr Ross said he called the watchdog, but it wouldn't elaborate on the phone.

The Commission did tell him it was sending a letter detailing the anonymous complaint, which he expected in the next day or two.

He was happy to talk to the complainant, and walk them through Ecoya's production process.

The Commission refused to name the complainant, leaving Mr Ross to speculate into the void. 

"I suspect a disgruntled competitor, who is sick of losing market share," he told NBR.

It remains to be seen whether the Fair Trading Act investigation will turn into a serious issue for the company.

In the meantime, Mr Ross is having fun with it.

"I'd like to thank the anonymous person for the publicity and getting a giant photo of our product into the newspaper," he said.

"Secondly thanks to the Commerce Commission for spending thousands of dollars to ensure that 100% all cotton candle wicks are being used. It must be a major issue. I just hope this doesn’t lead to any kind of ministerial resignation."

ABOVE: Ecoya 12-month NZX chart courtesy S&P Capital IQ. Click to zoom.

Ecoya [NZX:ECO] listed in 2010 at $1. It's shares closed at 93 cents on Friday.

According to S&P Capital IQ, the company has a market cap of $50.3 million. 

For the six months to September 30, 2011, the company made a $720,000 loss on revenue that doubled to $10.4 million.

This article has been corrected to clarify that Geoff Ross did not found Ecoya. Kurt Schweighoffer and Shane McGrath were its co-founders in 2003.