I was reading this interesting article in “Candy Industry” about the situation and expectations for the market in 2023 and I thought that I would share it here as it touches some points related to important chewing gum companies. Not only the huge Mondelez and Perfetti (I mentioned their agreement in a separate entry that you can find here) but also about Colombina, Arcor and Ezaki Glico which are also very large and important companies.
Please see the link here to Candy Industry
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.
Colombina is a clear example or regional leader. The company, based in Cali (Colombia), has a long history, as it was founded back in 1918 by Mr Caicedo (and still today family-owned). Originally it was a sugar cane processing plant which later developed in the huge food company which it is today, with over 10.000 employees. The company is not only producing chewing gum, there are also all types of candies, jellies, marshmallow, chocolate, cookies, snacks, ice cream, sauces and jams. Colombina has 6 production plants, and chewing gum in produced in two of them, one in La Paila (near Cali) and the other in Guatemala. You can find more about the company in their web site www.colombina.com
The chewing gum brands are: BON BON BUM (a successful lollipop with gum inside), XTIME (coated dragees) and SPLOT (bubble gum balls).
There are no big novelties presented in ISM. Mr Miguel Mejía Tobón (to whom I thank for his time) mentions the “Wild apple” flavour for the BON BON BUM. He thinks that the future of the industry in his region will go more towards sugarfree products and added value products. This is the trend that we see in many regions of the world, as producers try to move away from the low-end products.
Once again, I visited the confectionery fair in Cologne/Germany. It is always nice to see old friends, customers, competitors,… Always eager to learn what’s new and to see the changes in the market. This year I could find some new chewing gums (from Colombina, from Maghreb, …) together with some already known types. Interesting to note the revitalization of the “Cheiw” brand, from the Spanish company Damel. This was a top brand in the 70s and went through difficult times recently, but it seems that it is going up again, even if far from the golden times because now the Spanish market is clearly dominated by Wrigley and Cadbury (and always the interesting presence of Fleer with some market share). Also news from this market is the absence in the ISM Fair of the well-established firm “Fiesta”. It seems that the company is going through a restructuration process.
In terms of products I’d like to note the “Dr Look – Pelukloca” from Confiteca (Ecuador). This is a cotton gum presented in well-sealed plastic jars to avoid deformation and to ensure air-tightness. This (cotton gum) is a complex product to produce from the technological point of view, so it has always interested me. It is delicate and has always struggled to survive on the shelves of the different markets where is has been launched. I have seen it in USA, in Spain, in Korea but not in many more places.
Generally speaking, I found less exhibitors this year, with many empty spaces. It seems to me that the Fair is getting smaller and smaller (I do not know about the official figures of visitors). We already lost some years ago the presence of big names such as Wrigley, Cadbury, Perfetti and more recently Arcor and others. Lotte still keeping a relatively small booth (in relation to the size of the company). This year we missed the presence of companies from troubled countries like Egypt, Syria, Pakistan,… The Arab Spring left its effect in the fair.
Some comments around the fair said that there is not enough novelties or generation of business to justify a yearly fair and that it would be more interesting to have this type of show every two years.
However, the parallel event – Prosweets – seems to be taking off successfully. Last year we did not have Prosweets because we had Interpack Fair in Düsseldorf in May 2011 and the organizers decided that having Prosweets and Interpack in the same year would be too much. Wise decision!
Chewing Gum Consultant 