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!
Chewing Gum Consultant 