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.

 

 

 

Wrigley case study 27/03/2017

Filed under: Market & Fairs — Joan Mestres @ 4:12 PM
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I found this interesting article about how Wrigley started and developed. It is written more from the point of view of business strategy, rather than “chewing gum” itself, but I think it is well written and wanted to share it with you:

 

http://yourstory.com/2016/03/wrigley-case-study/

 

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.

 

 

Simply Gum (and Wrigley). 23/03/2017

Filed under: Market & Fairs — Joan Mestres @ 3:58 PM
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Today I wanted to “replicate” an interview with the CEO of SIMPLY GUM, from the USA, which has been published by www.confectionerynews.com (see link to the article).

Mr Caron Proschan declares his intention to compete for shelf space with Wrigley. When it comes to the issue of shelf space, I cannot avoid to tell you how frustrating it is for us, people at the technical (R&D and production) side of the chain, to see that all our efforts in developing a great product, with right the flavor profile that we want, the packaging that appeals the most, the shape, size and appearance that has been stated in the definition of the product, do not lead to a successful sales record because of the wrong positioning at the sales point. This parameter is so important (and so difficult to obtain) that we might think that all the other are insignificant.

I leave you with the article by Douglas Yu, although I do not agree compeltely with all what is mentioned there… but that would be too long to discuss here…

 

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 food 15/02/2017

Filed under: Production & Machinery,Research — Joan Mestres @ 10:06 AM
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In this post I will allow myself to move outside the world of chewing gum and jump into the larger “food industry” field.

After the eye-opening experience I had during last ISM, and that I discussed in previous posts, about the production of 3D chewing gum, I’ve done a bit of research on internet on the 3D Food printing matter. I have found a few interesting things that I’d like to share with you.

For sure this field (making food with a 3D printer) is complete novelty in all aspects. However there are restaurants that are already using this technology. I found one not far from home:

MIRAMAR in the Costa Brava, about 100km north of Barcelona (and not far from where the world-famous Ferran Adria’s “El Bulli” was located) is one of them. Miramar’s Chef Paco Pérez, with 2 Michelin stars experiements and develops 3D dishes.

This is a link to an interesting article in the New York Times that discusses some of the issues and controversies which curound this fascinating new paradigma. Will this machines become part of a common kitchen? What new possibilites do they offer in terms of tastes, textures, ingredients and composition of the food…?

Finally, a link to the website of Foodini the printer used by Paco Pérez, where you can side excellent pictures of 3D food and discover more about the machine. I reccommend the FAQs section!