Chewing Gum Consultant

Professional Chewing gum industry meeting point

CB12 – Meda 29/03/2017

Filed under: New product — Joan Mestres @ 5:39 PM
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The Swedish company MEDA (belonging to Mylan (USA) since mid 2016) has the nice “CB12 boost”. It is designed to fight the bad breath and for this prupose contains Zinc (in form af zinc acetate dihydrate) and sodium fluoride (NaF). The foremr is supposed to reduce the sulphur gases which cause the bad breath, the later is a well recongized agent in the oral care field which contributes to the maintenance of the tooth mineralization. It is also formulated with xylitol, which plays a role in this action.

This is another example of tabletted gum. It has two different layers (one white and the other blue), with the brand name “CB12” engraved in one of them. It some in two different flavors: Mint and Eucalyptus. website: CB12

The product is patented (Nr. 1 589 825) by GumLink, the danish company.

The CB12 range has also a mouthwash that has the same purpose, so both products complement each other.

 

 

 

CHEW POD – USA/Canada 24/03/2017

Filed under: New product — Joan Mestres @ 1:50 PM
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I have in my hands some samples of “Chew Pod”, in the two verison that exist: “Energy on demand” and “Sleep on demand”.

Both are a very good example of tabletted gum (made from gum in pwoder by means of a tabletting machine). The gum pieces have 3 horizontal layers, I assume that they serve technological purposes (like minimizing the stickiness to the tabletting machine) rather than aesthetical ones. The crumbliness (quite common in these type of products) is minimized, or i would say, even non-existing. The flavor has a very good lasting. They come in blisterpacks wth 8 pieces each.

The one that claims “Energy” contains Caffeine, Taurine and Guaraná seed extract (50mg, 50mg and 40mg respectively). The ones that claims “Sleep” contains Griffonia simplicifolia seed (5-HTP: 5-hydroxytryptophan) at 50mg per piece and 1,5 mg of Melatonin. Both versions contain vitamin B6 (pyridoxine HCl) and are sweetened with Sucralose.

The company that produces them is headquartered in California, USA and the product is manufactured in Canada.

You can learn more in a very attractive website: www.chewpod.com and also in www.khloros.ca (where I can see a thrid version of the product, named “Focus” but this does not seem to be in the market yet). You can also check the facebook page  @chewpod and the instagram with the same label @chewpod , where this “Focus” version also appears.

The company seems also open to produce for private label.

 

 

Tic Tac Gum – Ferrero 22/03/2017

Filed under: New product — Joan Mestres @ 4:52 PM
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It seems that (finally) Ferrero has arrived to the chewing gum arena. I received photos of their product, which comes under their well-established brand “TIC TAC”. I guess the product is on sale at least in Italy. I do not know if in any other market as well. I have not seen TicTac Gum myself, so I cannot comment on the characteristics or the quality (I assume it is top class, like the rest of the products of the company – And no, they do not sponsor me!). I just wanted to share with you the picture of the product that I received:

 

Progum – Turkey 21/02/2017

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 11:33 AM
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Another Turkish exhibitor, this one from Istambul, who presents gum. In this case the sometimes forgotten BUBBLE GUM.

In this blog I discuss many times about functional gum, stylish chewing gum with exzcellent designs, sophisticated products and innovations but I do not get many chance to talk about the gum that we all liked to chew when we were kids: the bubble gum. Even better when it comes with a sticker in it! It seems that this type of product (sometimes called “Bazooka style” because that was the first famous brand offering the format) is not interesting or trendy anymore. It is true that market figures have been showing a consistent decline of such products in Europe and North America, but it is good to remember that there are many brands in the world producing bubble gum for children and that this type still accounts for a significant share of the market.

So I am glad to talk today about PROGUM and their extensive range of bubble gums (also chewing gum), with different brands: Kango (5 chunck pack), You&me (5 chunck with tatoo), Powergum (jelly filled), Turbo (individual piece or multipack) and Safari (individual piece). You can see all their products in the link to their website. Have fun!

 

powergum-progum       turbo-progum

 

Ceremony – Turkey 20/02/2017

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 11:30 AM
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Another interesting company that exhibits in ISM for the second time is the Turkish “CEREMONY”.

They present sugarfree chewing gums with a very stylish and modern desing. Their main brand is “ 7 STICK” and also “CHIVITO”.

This new gum uses no aspartame, so it follows the trend of “clean label”, trying to avoid ingredients than may have a bad image in the general public. Maybe one day I should write a post about aspartame collecting all the data (positive and negative) that has been published about this intensive sweetener… and then another one about Stevia, which is quite an interesting case!

Congratulations to CEREMONY for the goodlooking product they have!

 

dynamic-stiock-ceremony              melon-7-stick-ceremony

 

Masterfoodeh – Iran 17/02/2017

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 10:23 AM
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This new player in the Iranian chewing gum scene is the first time that exhibits in ISM. They produce different brands of chewing gum: Biodent, Nature Dent, Action.

The presentations are also diverse (dragees in fliptop box or ministicks in multipack), as the range of flavors, including some really excetional like “mojito”, “camomile”, “walnut oil” and “frankincense”!

Following my post from yesterday, I’d like to mention the “Nature Dent” brand, which claims to contain natural gum base (it is not clear to me what they mean by this) and no atificial flavors and colors, no aspartame or sucralose. No additives or preservatives and GMO Free. The gum base is “of course biodegradable”, which is very interesting. So the product is claimed to be 100% natural and organic.

This follows the trend already mentioned of “clean label”. More and more consumers worldwide don’t like to have those “weird” names of ingredients written  the label of the product (antioxidant, artificial sweetener, …) and the manufacturers, of course, need to adapt their products to this demand.

Diffeent varieties of Nature Dent also claim to “improve your memory”.

کرافت

 

“Action” brand turns around the idea of Energy, Excitement and Dynamism.

“Biodent” is the widest brand, sugarfree and with many flavors and packagings. There are two sub-brands named “Stardent” and “Vitadent” and all them claim oral care properties. The presentation of those products is really impressive, with a very smart design and bright colors. Special mention to the printing in Braile in the “Biodent mojito”

 

biodent-masterfoodeh

 

Organic Chewing Gum 16/02/2017

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 9:57 AM
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One of the big trends in the food industry (not only in chewing gum) is the “natural” claim. The legislation about what can be claimed as “natural”, or other terms as “organic”, “bio”, … differs from country to country. This makes the tasks involved in the development of those products more tricky.

In any case, during last ISM was presented what is claimed to be “the first organic gum ever”. The claim is supported by the USDA organic certificate and also the European one.

 

usda_organic

organic_fethar

The chewing gum, presented in coated dragees (17 pieces in a zipperbag, 24 grams) and uses natural chicle from the sapotilla trees in Central America. It contains to no synthetics, no artificial colors or flavors and no preservatives. Of course, it is sugarfree. It is produced in Tunisia, but the company that commercializes it is a Danish one, named Ökolife. (for more info go to the link to their website).

zipperbags-samlet

 

3D gum printing – Wacker (and Katjes, and ZDS) in ISM’17 14/02/2017

Filed under: Market & Fairs,New product — Joan Mestres @ 12:18 PM
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As I mentioned before, the 3D chewing gum printing has been one of the most interesting presentations of last ISM. Please, check the different links that are included in this post, as they will take you to really exciting information!

The company who developed it, WACKER, had the printer in their stand and generated a great exposure in the media for this. We all could see how a gum was “printed” in front of us. Of course the concept is only a prototype now, with no industrial application. But for sure there will be more and more development on this field.

 

3d-gum-wacker

The company KATJES already showed a 3D printed candy last ISM (2016) and this year they had long queues of people waiting in front of their stand to have the pictures of their faces transferred by the software of the Magic Candy Factory to a 3D print of them. They are planning to install such type of 3D-candy printers in amusement parks and other events.

3d-katjes

 

Another proof that the 3D era is coming, is that the German confectionery school (ZDS) has introduced this year for the first time a specific seminar: “International ZDS Congress for Additive Manufacturing and 3D-Food Printing for the Confectionery and Snack Industry”. This will take place in their premises in Solingen on 19-20th September.

 

Hemp Chewing Gum 12/01/2017

Filed under: New product,Research — Joan Mestres @ 1:24 PM
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I want to forward to you today the article published by Confectionerynews.com about the functionality of a chewing gum that contains Cannabidiol (CBD).

The article mentions that inital bioavailability studies show promising results and now the company AXIM Biotech (specialized on research of products containing cannabis) will start clinical trials directed to alleviate symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The bioavailability studies have been conducted with chewing gum containg 30mg of CBD. The current product in the market contains only 10mg of CBD. It is marketed in the USA under the brand Canchew(R). See the link here for the website of the product: Canchew

The gum is made by tabletting process instead of the traditional extrusion process. This is more familiar to pharmaceutical companies and one the best solutions to use chewing gum as delivery system for active ingrendients. The tabletting process has many advanatges (e.g. is done at low temperature, so it does not damage the active ingredient) but also some disadvantages (the chewing profile of the final product is not as “good” as a standard chewing gum, due to the hardness and the dryness of the piece).

Here is the link to the full article from Confectionerynews.com

 

PRINTED GUM IN 3D 10/01/2017

Filed under: New product — Joan Mestres @ 5:33 PM
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The new 3D printers that have been developed during the recent years have shaken the whole industry in all fields, and they will influence the objects that we will see in the market in the next years. Then, why not chewing gum? How could it escape from this revolution? No way. Last month, Wacker, one of the leading suppliers of PVA to produce gum base, annouced that they have developed a process to produce 3D chewing gum using such printers. This will be presented during next ISM/ProSweets (Cologne, Germany 29th Jan – 1st Feb 2017), so I am eager to see it in action!

In the press release of the company (see link here) they mention a newly developed process under the name CANDY2GUM(R). This process involves cooking (as for standard candy production) and then their ingredient is added (Capiva(R) C03). This results on a product which behaves like a chewy candy at the initial chew and then becomes a gum. The idea is not new, I worked with this about 20 years ago, and before me many other people. The “Chewy Candy Gum” has been in the market in some contries and there are some patents (quite old as far as i know) about this. Cafosa marketed the idea under the brand “Velvet Gum” in the 90s. However, the product did not catch enough and the companies that started producing it did not keep it for a long time. Let’s hope that this new attempt, with this new ingredient, will be more successful.  If this is linked to the 3D printed chewing gum (when I read the press realease it is not clear to me if they are linked or they are talking about two different launchings), then the chances of survival are clearly much higher.

 

There are other linkes in internet showing 3D printed gum:

https://3dprint.com/videos/3d-printed-chewing-gum/

https://3dprint.com/44851/gumjet-3d-printer/

https://all3dp.com/3d-printed-chewing-gum/

so this will be an issue to follow very closely in the near future!