It’s been a while that I do not post in my blog. That’s bad! But the good news is that ISM is here again and tomorrow I fly to Cologne/Germany to attend once more this show! Looking forward to meet old friends there and hoping to get many news to share with you during next weeks!!
Leatherhead 04/10/2013
It’s been a while since my last post. I have many news to comment and short time to write here. That’s bad.
Anyway, I wanted to inform you today that I will be giving a presentation on chewing gum technology next 7th November in Leatherhead, UK. I’ve been cooperating with this institution for many years and it is always a pleasure to go to London to talk and discuss about chewing gum. This lecture is included in the Sugar Confectionery Course that every year Leatherhead organizes. You can learn more clicking this link
Wrigley and Mondelez cuts 12/06/2013
I reproduce here two articles published by Oliver Nieburg in “confectionerynews.com”
Some days ago we learnt that Wrigley France is going to cut 207 jobs in the Biesheim factory. The production of pellets (dragées) will be transferred to another plant. The production of sticks and tabs (for France and for the European market) will remain. The company plans to build an “European Gum Base and Soft Gum Center of Excellence” in that French town located next to Strasburg and the German border.
Today the news are that Mondelez closes the factories in Lebanon and Morocco. It has not been announced which factories will absorb that production.While 105 employees are affected by the closure in Lebanon, the staff in Morocco (43) will be offered a position in other Kraft or Mondelez business units (beverage or biscuits).
Mondelez Lebanon and Morocco article
Both decisions originate from a slow sales performance in those areas. For instance, the production in Wrigley France dropped 33% since 2007. This is directly related to the economic situation in Europe.
ICGA 13/05/2013
Today just a quick post to give you the link to the International Chewing Gum Association (ICGA).
This association comprises the main chewing gum manufacturers worldwide and also some gum base suppliers. It was generated in 2005 by the merger of the European and the North American associations. The web site contains some information about chewing gum (History, Fun facts, FAQs,…) which may be of your interest.
New sales office in Chile for Sanchez Cano 06/05/2013
The Spanish company Sanchez Cano / Fini has recently opened a new sales office in Chile. They already have production facilities in Brazil and offices in UK and Portugal.
I find quite interesting that they focus in this market. Chile is not a huge market in terms of chewing gum volume, although Euromonitor reports a strong increase (like in most Latinamerica). The population (17 Milion) is not big, compared to other Southamerican markets (like Colombia, Argentina or Peru), but the income per capita is higher. The market leader in Chile is the local producer “Dos en Uno”, which currently belongs to the Argentinian giant Arcor. They hold above 75% market share, followed by Mondelez. I mentioned about interesting products from Fini in a previous post.
GUM BASE Co. – Italy 03/05/2013
In ISM I met not only producers of chewing gum, also some suppliers were exhibiting there. Some days ago I talked about Beneo. Today about this italian company specialized in the production of gum base: Gum Base Co.
The company is part of Perfetti SpA and based near Milan, although they have production facilities also in Shanghai-China. Gum Base Co employs about 150 people and was founded back in 1967. I thank Mr Michel Benz for his time and explanations during the fair. The company is now noticing the interest on gum base to produce one of the latest trends in the industry: The gum tab consisting on two layers of chewing gum combined with a central layer of chewy candy. Gum Base Co. offers specific gum bases for this application. Mr Benz also explains that the liquid center filled gum is also in demand (although this has been around for much longer time). This type of gum requires some expertise and a perfect fine tuning of the ingredients and the machinery used in production. He notices a trend towards higher quality products, with higher profile. In the future the trend goes in the direction of healthcare/functional gum.
Gum Base Co also offers since some years PHARMAGUM (a gum in powder form designed for the pharmaceutical industry which can be directly compressible) and WELLGUM which is a specific solution that combines gum in powder form with active ingredients and then compressed into chewing gum (CPG – Compressed Powder Gum)
You can read more about this and other products and details of the company in their website: www.gumbase.com
CHOCOLAT FREY – Switzerland 23/04/2013
Today is the last post about chewing gum companies that I visited in ISM. And today’s company is an important one: Chocolat Frey is an institution in Switzerland and abroad. They produce chocolate (their main product, as the company name indicates) and chewing gum. It was founded back in 1887 (!) and employs about 870 people today. The production of chewing gum started in 1974. It belongs to the mighty Migros group. One can feel the presence of Migros almost everywhere in Switzerland. You can read more about the company in their web-site: www.chocolatfrey.ch and even in wikipedia. However they have their own website specifically designed for chewing gum: www.chewinggum.ch
In terms of chewing gum, they have their own brands (SKAI and CANDIDA) but the company is strong in production for private label. This ISM they presented premium coatings with different colours. Their dragees are excellent and they have in their range sugarfree bubble gum dragees, which is not common at all! Chocolat Frey also offers many types of packaging: blister, sleeve, flip-top box, zip bag, plastic bottles… All their products are sugar free and they have dental chewing gums which contain different active ingredients which make the product (e.g. Candida) a functional gum.
I thank Mr Benjamin Frei for his time and explanations during ISM.
SAET SWEETS – Spain 22/04/2013
This company, founded in 2005 (although with origins dating back to 1916!) and located south of Barcelona, is not a chewing gum producer. They are experts in licorice and also in tabletted products (both dextrose and sugar free). They launched some products in those fields last ISM.
The company employs 10 people and it is managed by Mr Javier Torrents (to who I thank for his time during the Fair). I mention them here because they distribute chewing gum. They have an interesting format: small tins that make them suitable for private label. You can see here one of them (Bad Toro) and some other examples:
In those tins they can put chewing gum or many other confectionery products.
You can read more about the company and find their catalog in their web-site: www.saetsweets.com
ALADIM – Brazil 19/04/2013
Today’s post about a Brazilian bubble gum maker: ALADIM, based in the city of Mirassol, produces not only gum but also chewy candy, jellies, powder drinks, toy candy, lollipops and hard candy!
The company was founded in 1965 and is still family owned (second generation of Amendola). You can read more in their website: www.aladim.ind.br
In terms of gum, they produce cut & wrap bubble gum and lollipops filled with gum. Interestingly, one of the cut & wrap products named DOIDAO paints the tongue in blue. Another one, “MAGIC COLOR”, changes color. This is obtained by using the right combination of colorant. The rest of cut & wrap gums contain stickers (cars, dinosaurs, robots, …)
I thank Mr Daniel Benmuhar for his time and explanations during ISM.
Chewing gum (non producers) 12/04/2013
In ISM I met not only many companies producing and selling their chewing gums, but also some others that are only taking care of the commercial part, and leaving the production to others.
Of course the number of the producers in the fair are much higher than the number of these commercializing companies, but I’d like to mention at least three here:
– BLINK.
This Danish company combines confectionery with fashion. They are experts in mints but they also have now a Gum version. Their packaging is really outstanding: Tin boxes with incredible designs which give a premium look to the product. Their BlinkGum comes in three different flavors and the gum itself is a two-layer compressed piece. So, in this case, not only the packaging is unique, but the product inside is exceptional. This is the link to their web: blink
– KERRY GUM
German company selling gum (coated dragees filled with liquid) in many different interesting packagings. Design is also in their focus. The plastic bottles are their strong point and they are modifying them to adapt to different circumstances. Like the football, basketball or tennis versions, or the one with a lanyard.:
They also have blister presentations. One of the versions (which I did not find in their website but was presented in ISM) was Keery Gum Energy, which claims to contain Caffeine, Guarana and Taurin. This the link to their website (only in German): Kerry gum
-MAXX SWEETS
German company commercializing chewing gum dragees in different presentations. I am sorry, I could not find their web site.
Chewing Gum Consultant 