This is Interpack year!
I will be attending this great Fair in Düsseldorf / Germany next week , from 8th til 14th May. See you there!
You should not miss it if you are interested in machinery for processing chewing gum.
Natural gum 28/04/2014
The other day I came across “Simply Gum”, and I thought it would be good to mention it here.
This product claims to be the only 100% natural gum in the USA. It contains: Natural chicle, organic dried cane juice, organic vegetable glycerin, organic sunflower lecithin, organic rice flour and natural flavor.
You can learn more in their web-site: www.simplygum.com
But they are also present in Facebook: www.facebook.com/SimplyGum
and in Twitter: www.twitter.com/SimplyGum
And here are a couple of links to other websites that mention the product: Kickstarter, Examiner, Ecofriendlyusa.
It comes originally in cinnamon flavor but it seems that they are expanding the range to licorice and ginger.
We can find more and more of these products that claim organic/natural/bio/… which is a clear trend in our society. They still take a very tiny share of the market due to different reasons: Sometimes quality, sometimes limited marketing (and financial) power in front of the big guys, sometimes the consumer is not aware (or is not ready to pay more, or finds it difficult to find, …). It will be interesting to see the evolution of such brands in the near future.
Chocolat Frey in North America. Sweet works/Oak Leaf 24/04/2014
The swiss company Chocolat Frey (I posted about it in the past) has recently acquired Sweetworks. I also posted about this American company which owns well-known brands such as Oak Leaf (located in Canada) and Niagara Chocolates.
The companies have chocolate production and this acquisition will be a direct way for the Swiss to enter the US market. However here we focus on gum, and Chocolat Frey is specialist in sugar free gum production (with own brands and for private label), while Oak Leaf is strong in gum balls (sugared). They are then in strong contrast with each other. It will be interesting to see how this synergy evolves in the future. Will Chocolat Frey coated pellets enter the US market in a stronger way and compete with the giants Wrigley and Mondelez? Are we going to see more sugar free gum balls? …
Sweets & Snacks Expo 2014 14/04/2014
You have another event to schedule in your agendas: Sweets & Snacks Expo 2014 in Chicago, from 20th until 22nd May.
It claims that there will be more than 620 exhibiting companies and participants will arrive from 90 countries. You will be able to find a wide arrange of novelties, key note sessions, etc.
FINI – Spain 11/04/2014
Not really big novelties this year for this Spanish company, with branch in Brazil.
Last year I mentioned very nice gum balls resembling tennis balls. They were in yellow (tradition color for a real tennis ball) and pink. This year they expanded the range to orange, green and blue balls. Very nice! i like them.
LUTTI – France 10/04/2014
Last year I mentioned (and posted pictures) the Tube gum and the Tape gum that this French company is producing but here you have the spaghetti gum, with the brand “Bubblizz” which has fizzy effect.
CHOCOLAT FREY – Switzerland 09/04/2014
The Swiss company was not presenting big launches this year. The most relevant is a Limited edition of their SKAI brand (sugar free drags packed in zip-bags) with “Chai Latte” flavor.
Then, CHOCOLAT FREY is giving a boost to their SMAJL brand with three different flavors: “Sweet Mint”, “Eucamenthol”, and “Dental” (with micro granules). They all claim the fact that the product does not contain aspartame.
FLEER – Spain 08/04/2014
I wrote last year about this company, specialist in sugarfree chewing gums. This is the link to my previous post.
There are no revolutionary novelties this year. Mainly a new brand extension for the sat product: CLIX, which is named CLIX CRACK. This is a square dragee presented in individual flow pack which comes in different flavors: Watermelon, mint, spearmint ands strawberry.
This adds to other products of the “CLIX family”: CLIX 3D, CLIX ONE, CLIX PLUS (with -Aloe vera), 6 CLIX and CLIX JOYSTICK.
The company also produces bulk dosages for third parties and private label.
I thank Mr José Ramón Navarro for his explanations during the show.
PARS MINOO – Iran 07/04/2014
This Iranian company is the third year that exhibits in the fair. It is interesting because there are not many companies from Iran in the show.
PARS MINOO have a range of sugar free dragees presented in different flavors and packaging. There flip top boxes but also the traditional multipack of 10 drags and another multipack with 4 dragees. Some typical flavors are: Orange, Spearmint, Peppermint and Strawberry.
I thank Ms Sakhbaz for her time and explanations. You can learn more about this company checking www.minoogroup.com
Energy gum 05/04/2014
A new energy gum has been launched in UK. It is named “RAW” and marketed by Navson, a mineral water company. They position this gum at lower price (18 pieces for 0,99 Pound; 1,2 Eur; 1,65 US$) than other competitors and do not use caffein (maybe the most obvious ingredient that comes to our mind when considering this product category). “RAW” contains Taurine and Vitamin B.
Other energy gums are mentioned in the article from confectionery news.com (link):
VIBE: 10 pieces per pack. 2 Pounds (=2,42 Eur, 3,32 US$)
L.A. FUEL: 7 gums per pack, 25 mg Taurine per gum, 100 mg caffeine per gum, 3,00 Eur per pack (=2,48 Pounds, 4,11 US$)
And other gums in the market:
DRIVE GUM: 10 gums per pack, 25 mg caffeine per gum, 2,8 Eur per pack (=2,31 Pounds, 3,84 US$)
C2 Energy Gum: 40 gums per pack (plastic bottle), caffeine, taurine and guarana (precise quantities do not appear in their web site). At 8990 chilean pesos (= 11,82 Eur, 9,77 Pounds, 16,19 US$)
Chewing Gum Consultant 