Chewing Gum Consultant

Professional Chewing gum industry meeting point

ERSAY GIDA – Turkey 18/03/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs — Joan Mestres @ 4:21 PM
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Today I will take again the review of companies that were exhibiting in ISM. We are already well into March and I am still posting about ISM!! I should speed this up… but there were so many chewing gum producers in the show that it is taking me longer than expected.

A main market for chewing gum, not only for the local products but also for the importance of exports, is Turkey.

Turkey as a country is always well represented in ISM, and we find most of their companies under the umbrella of the “Turkish Confectionery & sweet Promotion Group” www.turkishconfectionery.org

During next days I will be presenting a few turkish companies and today I will start by ERSAY. This is a company based in Istambul, where they have three factories.

The company was founded 27 years ago and employes about 50 people. You can find more at www.frutsi.com.tr It is also known as ASPAK, and they are specialized in bubble gum (cut & wrap and balls). They also produce their own gum base.

Their main brand is FRUTSI (in fact the web site I mentioned before comes under that name). This edition of ISM, Ersay introduced Sour Shox extra and watermelon coming as single ball in a flow pack. Also “love gum” which are gum balls in a flip top bad, “soccer gum”, “Turbo”, and “girls” with a sticker. Finally, it is worth to mention the “Dino”, which is a cut&wrap product with mastic flavor. I always found this flavor quite peculiar…. maybe because I am not Turkish…

More about Turkish producers tomorrow… Then we will go for the mexicans…

 

Indaco – Italy 06/03/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 11:29 AM
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INDACO is an Italian company founded in 1999 and owned by the Cola family. In ISM I talked to Mr Silvio Cola, to whom I thank for his time.

The company has about 50 employees and is located near Napoli. They produce, of course chewing gum but also hard candy, chocolate lentils and some hazelnut, almonds and similar products coated with chocolate. www.indacocandy.com 

It must be very difficult to play in the italian chewing gum market, considering the dominant position of Perfetti. Or maybe is because of this that there are opportunities! Indaco is selling not only in Italy, but also in about 20 countries mainly in North Africa, Middle East and Southern Europe. They are looking for expansion into other areas. Indaco’s own brand for chewing gum ins COLFRESH, which represents about 60% of their production, and then they produce for private label which takes the remaining 40%. In this ISM’13 they presented a 10 stick (6 flavors) zipper pack for private label.

According to Mr Cola during recent years there has been an excess of innovation which has confused the consumers with too many product launches. Many products in Italy are above the 1,5 Eur and consumers, due to the current crisis, are looking for products below this price, so Indaco intends to focus on that and also in the private label sector. They have an eye on emerging markets like India, China and others where the sugar free is slowly increasing the market share. Indaco produces 90% of their chewing gum as sugar free, so this is one of their strong points.

 

ZED CANDY – IRELAND 05/03/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 10:25 AM
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I had the chance to talk to Mr Brendan Roantree, Managing Director of Zed Candy, during ISM.

This Irish company was established in 1998 and has been growing and expanding since then. Now employes more than 270 people and has production facilities in China and in UK. Even if they produce hard and soft candy, chocolate and jelly beans, what is interesting to us is their production of bubble gum. They are real specialists in hollow ball production. Their designs and powerful image has always surprised me, since I met this company many years ago. I invite you to visit their web-site: www.zedcandy.com

They have one big brand:; JAWBREAKERS which includes hollow balls in different designs and sizes (Mammooth Jawbreaker, Monster jawbreaker, etc). The hollow balls have funny designs, like the ones that resemble an eye (Terror eyes) or a golf ball. There are other brands of bubble gum, such as GUM POWDER (in this case consists on coated nuggets of gum) or ZAPPERS  (small gum squares). All the products from Zed Candy move away from the traditional, conventional, well-known styles and are able to present an innovative and striking look.

During ISM’13 Zed Candy presented a world first, which is a ball with 4 colour print (the logo of the company) on it. Also very powerful is the lollipop consisting on a liquid center, with bubble gum around it and then coated with 3 different layers (colours) of candy. This sophisticated product is called TORNADO POPS.

According to Brendan during last years he feels that the market is asking for higher quality products and that low price/low quality is not selling as much as before. Children are more and more novelty driven. About the future, he is worried about volatile raw material prices, currencies and legislations. As in international business manager he has to deal with those variables and it is a tough challenge. He also feels (and I fully agree with him, but I will discuss about this in another post) that ISM is getting smaller.

Thank you, Brendan, for your time and explanations!

 

SANCHEZ CANO (FINI) – SPAIN 25/02/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 6:33 PM
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The company Sanchez Cano SA was founded in Molina de Segura, Murcia (South East of Spain) in 1973 and it is still owned by the family with the same name. They have about 550 employees at the moment and some years ago a factory in Brazil was added to the initial Spanish factory. The company has also branches in UK, Chile and Portugal. In their web-site (www.fini.es) they claim to be market leaders in Spain for Marshmallows, jellies and liquorice.

They have two main brands for chewing gum: FINI and KLET’S. They are specialists in balls (hollow of filled with liquid). The brand KLET’s covers the sugarfree dragees.

During last ISM, FINI launched a new version of the sugar free coated pillows, named KLET’S ENERGY, which contains taurine and caffeine. Also new was the “Burger Gum”: A bubble gum with interesting shape and also “MEGA COLA” which a gum with the shape of a cola bottle.

burger gumcola fini

I thank Mr Manolo Nicolas for his time and explanations and also for taking me to the stand in front of FINI, where I met Mr Max Eisenbud, who explained me about the chewing gum brand launched in August 2012 by the world-famous tennis player Maria Sharapova. The venture is named SUGARPOVA (www.sugarpova.com) and includes different types of sweets, but in terms of gum they have nice tennis balls like the ones in the picture. This product is produced by Sanchez Cano  and that’s why I include it here. The image of both stands and the products are really outstanding.

tennis sugarpova ©2012 sugarpova.com

 

Finally, I attach a link to the article that Oliver Nieburg wrote for confectionery news.com about the same companies which will help complete the information: link confectionerynews fini (©2013 William Reed Business Media SAS)

 

 

Colombina – Colombia 20/02/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs — Joan Mestres @ 11:45 AM
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Colombina is a clear example or regional leader. The company, based in Cali (Colombia), has a long history, as it was founded back in 1918 by Mr Caicedo (and still today family-owned). Originally it was a sugar cane processing plant which later developed in the huge food company which it is today, with over 10.000 employees. The company is not only producing chewing gum, there are also all types of candies, jellies, marshmallow, chocolate, cookies, snacks, ice cream, sauces and jams. Colombina has 6 production plants, and chewing gum in produced in two of them, one in La Paila (near Cali) and the other in Guatemala. You can find more about the company in their web site www.colombina.com 

The chewing gum brands are: BON BON BUM (a successful lollipop with gum inside), XTIME (coated dragees) and SPLOT (bubble gum balls).

There are no big novelties presented in ISM. Mr Miguel Mejía Tobón (to whom I thank for his time) mentions the “Wild apple” flavour for the BON BON BUM. He thinks that the future of the industry in his region will go more towards sugarfree products and added value products. This is the trend that we see in many regions of the world, as producers try to move away from the low-end products.

 

B II B – Denmark 19/02/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 4:45 PM
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Yesterday I was talking about Triki, the leading chewing gum manufacturer in Tunisia.

Today I’s like to present BIIB (Back-to-Basics). www.b11b.com

This is a Danish-German-Tunisian company specialized in private label. It was founded in 2001 by Mr Kolind and Mr Barenholdt and they offer chewing gum, hard and soft candy, jellies and mints (compresssed tablets). Triki is one of the partners and, as such, some of the production of the company B11B is carried out in Tunisia. However they have also agreements with other producers. This flexibility allows them to offer several types, formats and presentations (sticks, dragees, filled dragees, in flip top box, in multipack, in plastic bottle, etc. ).

B11B is open to receive requests for any private label around the world, and they have as well their own brands, such as OXYDENT. In ISM they launched a gum with Stevia, one of the trends in the industry during last months and that has been discussed in this web in the past. So here we have the possibility to find more and more in the shops some chewing gum sweetened with Stevia!

I thank Mr Henrik Jorgensen for his time during ISM.

 

Triki – Tunisia 18/02/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 5:01 PM
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Let me today talk about another regional leader. This is Confiserie TRIKI – Le Moulin, located in the city of Sfax, in Tunisia.

I talked with Mr Sami Triki during the fair and I thank him for his time. He explained that the company was founded in 1948, it has two factories and about 550 employees. Triki produces not only gum (50%) but also hard candy (25%) and Halwa (25%). There is no specific launching during this fair but Triki is presenting its well known brands FLORIDA and FLORIDENT. The former is a sugared chewing gum in stick and coated dragees format. The second is a sugar free chewing gum in dragees presentation which comes in plastic bottles and in flip top boxes.

According to Mr Triki, they see a move back towards the stick format. It is true that some years ago we saw a switch to the dragees from other formats like sticks or tabs. This seems to be somehow reversing. We have seen in the market as well recently many “tabs” or “ministicks”, so this should also be taken into consideration. According to Mr Triki there is always room for innovation in chewing gum, one option could be compressed gum, another is through the addition of ingredients that will bring value.

Triki also has bubble gum, under the brands BALLON (a cut & wrap), SUPER JUMBO (hollow balls) and MANGO (fruit shape filled with liquid or powder).

You can find more about this company in their web:  www.confiserie.gr-triki.com

The company Triki is also shareholder of B11B (Back to Basics) of which I will talk in a separate post.

 

Confiteca – Ecuador 15/02/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 12:34 PM
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Confiteca, with headquarters in Quito – Ecuador and factories in Ecuador, Colombia (Confitecol) and Peru (Confiperu), is a leader in the chewing gum market in his area.

The company was founded in 1963 and owned by the Chiriboga family. It has about 1250 employees at the moment. They cover a very wide range of products, which includes chewing gum, hard and soft candy, chocolate and toys. More details in www.confiteca.com . I thank Mr Isaac Almeida for the time spent presenting the range of products.

Also, the range of chewing gum brands is extensive: TUMIX and ARTIC (dragees), AGOGO (Hollow balls),KATABOOM (balls filled with liquid) and SUPER HIPER ACIDO (filled with acid powder).

In last ISM, Confiteca presented PLOP!!, a 5 units sugarfree  gum in multipack and individual flowpack presentations. also TUMIX Sugarfree with a new presentation: individual flow pack.

This follows the trend that we find in many countries, which is the move towards sugarfree products, healthier for the teeth and withy more added value, moving away from the low cost / low margin products.

This company has a product which I consider specially interesting. It is not a novelty but I think it is worth mentioning here, because there are not many products like this in the world. It is a cotton gum, named DR LOOK PELUKLOCA. As this is a delicate product and can be easily damaged during transport and storage, it is presented inside a plastic jar which protects it conveniently. Here a photo:

peluca-loca

 

Roelli Roelli Confectionery AG – Switzerland 14/02/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 1:54 PM
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This small family owned company based in St Gallen, offers a nice range of chewing gum, all of them sugar free.

The company was founded in 1997 and has about 10 employees at the moment. In their range they have not only chewing gum, but also hard and soft candy, jellies and some chocolate containing products. It is owned by the Roelli family. You can see more on their web site www.roelliroelli.ch

Their chewing gum brands are DOC’s, FREEZER, PIX and HUSTOL. They come in many different sorts of packaging (plastic bottles, blister, flip top box, and even zip-bag). Most of them are coated gum pillows, but also mini-stick (or tabs). HUSTOL are filled dragees. The novelty in this ISM has been ALPRAUSCH (herbal gum) with new flavors. This product was exhibited in the ISM New Product Showcase.

Mr Nico Studer took the time to explain me the whole product range, so I thank him for that.

alprausch roelliroelli

 

Lusiteca – Portugal 13/02/2013

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 12:21 PM
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Let me talk today about Lusiteca, the only Portuguese-owned chewing gum manufacturer. I’ve visited many times this company located in Mem Martins, not far from Lisboa/Lisbon. The company started in 1968 and currently has about 200 employees. They produce not only chewing gum, but also hard and soft candy. You can find more at www.lusiteca.pt

The company changed their image and logo last 2012, undertaking a major re-branding which brings more color, life and imagination.

Lusiteca has a very strong brand in bubble gum: GORILA, which is complemented by SUPER GORILA. The bubble gum has a range of 8 flavours, and every year a new one is coming. This ISM they presented a “Vintage Edition” for the Gorila, in which they include pictures of WW2 airplanes. This collection was already launched in the 70s and now Lusiteca is re-launching it in response of many customer’s requests.

You can find about the brand also in Facebook.com/pastilhasgorila

At the fair I talked to Mr Francisco Ramos, Ms Isabel Madeira and Ms Adelaide Chefe. I thank them all for their time and kindness.

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