Nobilis Tilia

Nobilis Tilia is a Czech natural and organic cosmetics company specialising in aromatherapy, based in the village of Vlčí Hora in the Bohemian Switzerland region near the German border [10]. It was founded in 1994 by the botanist Zbyněk Šedivý and trades on pure essential oils obtained through steam distillation combined with bioactive plant substances. Its products are made largely by hand at a single facility, and the company markets itself under the tagline "natural aromatherapy cosmetics."

In January 2026 the brand was acquired by the Czech-Slovak drinks group Kofola ČeskoSlovensko, which took a 100% stake and folded it into its herbal subsidiary LEROS. The founders stepped back into advisory roles while day-to-day operations continued, so the brand remains active under new ownership rather than dormant.

The company began in 1994 in the town of Krásná Lípa under the name Nobela [2]. Its founder, Zbyněk Šedivý, was a biology teacher and botanist who had started studying medicinal plants and their health applications professionally around 1990. The earliest formulations were developed in collaboration with Professor Jan Šmidrkal and the dermatologist Otakar Feřtek.

Two further figures shaped the business. Adéla Zrubecká, described by the company as the first certified aromatherapist in the Czech Republic, and her partner Petr Zrubecký, a technical developer, joined as co-owners in 2003 [3]. Together with Šedivý they formed the ownership group that ran the company for the following two decades.

The name Nobilis Tilia is Latin for the linden, or lime, tree — the company glosses it as "noble" or "beautiful linden tree." The rebrand from Nobela took place in 2000, when the logo was redrawn from a sprouting seed into a flowering linden.

After its 2000 rebrand, the company relocated to Vlčí Hora in 2004 and built an aromatherapy centre with herbal gardens there. In 2007 it obtained the Czech CPK and CPK BIO certifications for natural and organic cosmetics, which the brand describes as among the world's strictest cosmetic standards [4].

In 2016 it opened a flagship visitor centre in Vlčí Hora combining a shop, a herbal teahouse and a cosmetic and massage salon, and over the following years it added branded stores in Prague, Ostrava and Brno. In 2024 the Vlčí Hora store was named "Shop of the Year 2023" in the Visa Czech Top Shop competition [3]. The company marked thirty years in business the same year.

Nobilis Tilia was independently owned by its founders until January 2026, when Kofola ČeskoSlovensko acquired a 100% stake [11]. Kofola placed the brand within LEROS, the herbal subsidiary it had bought in 2018, as part of a strategy to strengthen what the group calls its "herbal pillar." Kofola's owner, Jannis Samaras, said herbs form the base of the group's recipes and described the deal as an opportunity to expand its herbal segment in Czechia and abroad.

Under the new structure Martin Růžička continued as general director of Nobilis Tilia, while founders Zbyněk Šedivý and the Zrubecký couple stayed on as advisers. Co-owner Adéla Zrubecká framed the sale as a generational handover, saying that "after thirty years of business, we began to feel it was time to hand over the helm" and that the two companies shared a philosophy and a passion for herbs [12].

The company positions itself around what it calls a combination of pure essential oils and bioactive plant substances intended to benefit both skin and general wellbeing. Its stated mission is to "bring beauty and harmony into the lives of its customers and the places where it operates," and it lists responsibility, ecological sustainability and support for organisations in need among its core values.

A distinctive part of that positioning is its charitable work, which the company integrates directly with sales. It directs profits from its maternity and pregnancy cosmetics toward improving conditions on children's hospital wards, and supports midwifery, foster-family and regional organisations in the Bohemian Switzerland area. As a price tier the brand is an indie natural producer; the sustainability directory Good On You records its retail prices in the premium band [9].

The product range is broad for a small producer, spanning essential oils and flower waters, facial care, body care, and a dedicated mother-and-child line covering pregnancy, birth and baby care. According to the company's own bestseller listing, its top sellers include an NAD+ rejuvenating serum, a hyaluronic acid serum, a BIO rose flower water, an argan softening cream and a helichrysum revitalising cream. Recurring hero ingredients include steam-distilled essential oils, flower waters, argan oil and helichrysum.

The company also lists a "Biofáze" line, which it describes as enzymatic skin regeneration. Beyond the shelf, its Vlčí Hora centre offers an interactive option for customers to blend their own bath oil, massage oil, inhalation stick or aroma perfume on site [10].

Sustainability is central to how Nobilis Tilia describes itself, and its claims extend from formulation to the building itself. The company says its CPK and CPK BIO certified products contain no petroleum derivatives, parabens, silicones, artificial colorants or synthetic preservatives, and that the certification standard itself bans animal testing and animal-derived ingredients — making the products, in its account, both vegan and cruelty-free.

At its single production facility the company reports rooftop solar panels for water heating, rainwater collection into underground tanks, and on-site root-based filtration of wastewater. It uses FSC-certified paper, sends invoices digitally and packages oils and flower waters in purple glass, which it says protects the contents from visible light. The company cites research at the J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem finding that plastic air cushions carry a smaller carbon footprint than paper fillings. The independent directory Good On You gives the brand an overall "Good" rating, scoring it 4 out of 5 for Planet, 3 for People and 4 for Animals [9].

Nobilis Tilia's Vlčí Hora store won "Shop of the Year 2023" in the Visa Czech Top Shop competition, announced in 2024 [3]. The brand is also listed by Prague City Tourism as an official shopping destination, described there as a maker of handmade Czech aromatherapy cosmetics from Bohemian Switzerland.

As of early 2026 the brand is active but no longer independent. Kofola ČeskoSlovensko completed its acquisition of a 100% stake on 20 January 2026 and announced the brand's integration into its LEROS herbal division [11]. Operations continued under the existing management, with Martin Růžička as general director and the founders retained as advisers, and the company had public events scheduled in Vlčí Hora for mid-2026.