It is the second time that I write about this company. It was one year ago that I discovered them in ISM and introduced them to you. Now, again in ISM, they launch a new version of their Energy gum. They have added Guarana in the formulation, so the coated gums contain now caffeine + guarana.
You can learn more in their website: www.drivegum.com
I’m back from ISM, in Cologne (Germany), where I had the chance to meet again many friends and colleagues from this exciting chewing gum world. During next days I will be posting about a few things that I found there. I must say (and I think ti is not the first time that I mention this) that I have the feeling that the fair become smaller and smaller. Some companies that used to exhibit there are not coming anymore. Now I met some of the representatives of those companies coming only as visitors. I am convinced that ISM is still a very valuable meeting point and I see many booths that are always busy receiving guests, but it is clear that some companies, when evaluate the pros and cons of setting up a stand and exhibit their products, seem to decide for coming to the show to see the novelties and they arrenge the meetings with their customers or suppliers in different areas of the Fair, instead of the expense of exhibiting there with their own booth.
I must say as well, that novelties in gum products are very limited and maybe the most important news on the sector are not related to a specific product but to a recent take-over. But I will write about this another day…
ProSweets, however, is a Fair that seems to become stronger. Compared to the first years of this Fair for the confectionery industry suppliers (mainly machinery, but also ingredients and packaging materials) that runs parallel to ISM, I see more and more exhibitors and visitors. I do not know if it will reach the importance of Interpack, which still is the #1 fair for the machinery suppliers, but for sure this is an exhibition to be taken into account.
The Colombian multinational COLOMBINA SA has acquired the Spanish FIESTA SA for 16,8 M euro, according to the press. The most important product from FIESTA is a lollipop filled with gum with the brand “Kojak”. The new owner commited to keep the all the employees for at least 1 year, and to inject 1 Million euros to start new projects. Fiesta will be used as platform to distribute the Colombian products to Africa and Europe. Once brand and company have been sold, it is still pending to see the future of the factory itself, located near Madrid.
After some years of not-so-good figures for the gum market, it is good to see that some relevant players with optimistic views.
In the article published last 20th March (link) by confectionery news.com, the VicePresident of global consumer and industry affairs of Hershey says that the reason (or maybe one of the reasons!) for the weak performance of gum in the US market has been the excess of references, a range of offer which is too broad. Once this element has been identified, the producers (according to him) will be able to take the necessary action and reverse the trend, hopefully returning to positive figures.
The article shows some interesting figures of the US market and Euromonitor data (which seems to be not as optimistic as Hershey’s VP…)
This korean company (www.deayoungfoods.co.kr) might not be one of the big players in the country (Like Lotte, Haiti, Orion,…) but their product is outstanding.
They had a booth in ISM and I had the pleasure to talk to Mr Rhee. They produce other products than gum, but … their chewing gum portfolio is really interesting!
Most of the products are xylitol based, aligned with what the market demands in that part of the world. But the company gives them a very nice final touch which differentiates them from the competition. See this photo that I took from the “Rainbow gum”. Isn’t it an appealing way to present the dragees? When I see this, the rest of sugarfree gums risk to look too boring.
The range of gums is completed with other “not-so-common” types of gum: Tube gum, gum in cubes (I talked about this type of presentation in my previous post) and also functional gum, with three different products:
“No sleep Gum” containing guaraná
Vitamin Gum, with vitamins A, B, C, D and E
Polyphenol gum, with antioxidant properties
and Aloe Gum which contains, of course, Aloe Vera.
Daeyoung Foods also exports to a number of countries and has been growing in the last years.
The German company Ascom (www.ascomgum.com), based in Walldorf, introduced a new line of innovative products last ISM. This goes under the umbrella of “Go Yellow”. The first products launched are 2 types of gum cubes (“super sour” and “cotton candy” flavors) and one type of gum globe/lentil (peppermint flavor). They are all presented in flip-top boxes and using characters from “The Simpsons”. The pieces have a light coating with powder which enhances the initial impact.
I always liked the presentation in cube and wonder why it is not more extensive. The most well-know example is the Ice-Cube by Icebreakers (Hershey) and I am happy to see more companies launching this format.
Back from this year’s ISM (and Prosweets) exhibition in Cologne / Germany.
I repeat myself when I say that this fair seems smaller and smaller every year, so I will not insist on this. It is still an impressive show and a very interesting meeting point for the confectionery industry. I have seen a few novelties (not many because most the companies I visited were not really presenting anything new) which i will be talking about during next posts.
Sad news are that the Spanish company “FIESTA” is for sale. After some years of financial difficulties, the company, located near Madrid, has a tag price of around 20 Million Euros.
The same is expected to take place in July and will be organized in two parts: The sale and distribution of sweets, and the factory itself. The first business has an estimated value of 12 M Eur but the initial sale price will be 5 times the EBITDA for 2015. The company estimates that the EBITDA for 2014 will be 1,2 M Eur, so if the forecast for 2015 is the same, then the value will be 6 M Eur (half of the estimated value of the business). Regarding the building itself, it has a value of 8 M Eur but it will come out for sale for 6,7 M Eur. 50 companies have already shown interest. The company has now 140 employees and has suffered a deep restructuration process during last years and months.
You can read more about this in this link (only in Spanish) from Alimarket, who provides the info mentioned above.
The company is well-known in the Spanish market for their lollipop with a bubble gum center named “Kojak”. It has also an active export activity.
Getting ready one more year to go to Cologne and visit ISM and Prosweets. i will inform you, as usual, about the novelties I find there. I invite you to visit older posts in this blog to find the different reports about different brands and products that I found in 2013 and 12014.
I copy here the link to the news published to day in www.confectionerynews.com about the legal battle between Wrigley and Perfetti over the “WTF” trademark.
Wrigley considers that “WTF” can somehow overlap or coincide with their well-known brand “Winterfresh”. I have no other news about this issue other than the one appeared in this article, so I better just invite you to read it here
Chewing Gum Consultant 