I was recently in Argentina, so I take this excuse to comment a bit on the gum market of this country.
It is a clear duopoly with Kraft/Cadbury holding 54% market share in value and the local player Arcor 42%. Not much room left for the others! Each of them have their very strong brands (Beldent and TopLine respectively) well established in the market since many years. Being sugar free brands, these are gaining market share each year to other sugared brands like Bubaloo or Bazooka (both Cadbury), which decrease, following the general world-wide trend. We can find another common trend also in Argentina: Increase of chewing gum and decrease of bubble gum, with functional gum being a strong driver for the increase.
While bubble gum accounts for 12400 T and only 714 Million Peso value, chewing gum represents 7400 T but 1300 Million Peso value!
Two specificities of this market are the high inflation rate (around 25%) and the increased legislation to protect the local economy by making imports more and more difficult. Both issues affect the chewing gum market. The perspectives are positive and some growth (2%) is expected.
Argentina 18/10/2012
Nostalgia 01/10/2012
Now that we have to name the second player in our field “Mondelez” instead of Kraft, there many names that come to my mind which are no longer in use.
The same company, Kraft, took over some years ago Cadbury, which in turn had purchased Adams from Pfizer. Adams, a pioneer in our industry, was belonging to Warner Lambert. Cadbury also absorbed the Danish Dandy, the Argentinian Stani, the Egyptian BimBim and many others.
The other big player, Wrigley, is now within the Mars Inc. group, but it had absorbed some companies in the past, like Joyco (previously named General de Confiteria).
If we llok at the suppliers, we can also find names that are not there anymore. In the field of flavours I remember Bush Boake Allen (BBA), now in IFF; or Quest and Tastemaker now in Givaudan. In terms of machinery we can remember that names of Togum, Comeck or WLS. Many of their machines are still in factories around the world. Or even Nagema, from East Germany, for packaging.
If you also remember those names, it means that you have been around for quite a while as well….
Chewing Gum and Chewy Candy Combination 22/08/2012
The last trend launched into the market in terms of chewing gum format or presentation has been a co-extruded tab consisting on 3 layers of product. Kraft-Cadbury was the first to come with this innovation and named it “Trident Layers”. This is a sort of “sandwich” gum where the top and bottom layers are gum, and the middle layer is chewy candy with a different flavor. Really interesting mix! Then, the same company has launched the same concept under other brands that they own. For instance “Stride” in Japan and “Beldent” in Argentina. Other companies launched a similar product: Perfetti with the well-known “Mentos” brand and also “Vivident”. In this case, this company dared to go for three completely different layers, as you can see in the photo attached, each one with a different color and/or flavour. Recently Lotte, in Japan, joined the trend and launched “Zeus” gum. In this case they used a completely new brand and did not use any existing one (“BlackBlack”, “Xylitol”, “Green Gum”, etc…). “Zeus” gum has a really strong taste (the image on the packaging refers to a storm and lightning), whicb is quite unusual for the Japanese market, which usually prefers mild flavors. Let’s see how it performs in the market.
We will probably see other products in the market that use this innovative concept of mixing gum and chewy candy. And of course, this opens the door to other combinations…
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New Product, more! 13/08/2012
Some days ago I was mentioning an interesting product from Wrigley in Australia. Today it is Cadbury’s turn, and they have a new product in the US named “ID“. This gum, targeted to teenagers has two main characteristics: The first is a printed surface with different designs (there are some products in the market with this feature but none of them has been launched recently). The second interesting characteristic is a packaging with a magnet in the sleeve so it can be properly closed.
I attach below a link where you can read more about this product:
http://www.just-food.com/news/kraft-looks-to-boost-gum-sales-with-new-brand_id119104.aspx
and this one that discusses about this product and some other novelties in the chewing gum market:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2012-05-04/wacky-chewing-gum/54818846/1
Kraft pushes for biodegradable gum 11/07/2012
The giant Kraft has a post in its website asking for inputs that will help them develop a biodegradable gum base. Those inputs can be “novel and inventive ingredients, processing methods and technology solutions”
You can read more on:
http://www.kfcollaborationkitchen.com/EN/What/Pages/NeedInformation.aspx?bid=E50EFBE8-E5E4-4044-9C79-4ECA806A84E6
It has been many years that the main players in the chewing gum field are researching in this direction, with many filed patents but limited results in the market. As the issue become hotter and hotter, maybe we can really see something relevant in the market soon….
More news about a biodegradable (?) gum base 09/07/2012
Kraft (via RSSL center in UK) is looking for novel food approval for a new gum base recently developed. This gum base seems to contain a polymer currently used in cosmetic (oral care) products. You can read the article here:
What surprises me is that the article mentions that the expected time for degradation is going to be “equivalent to other synthetic polymer gum bases”.
We’ll wait for more news on this and see if finally we get a real breakthrough in the market.
Smaller gum packages 16/05/2012
Continuing the last post, there are still more news about this trend in US. Producers go into smaller packs of chewing gum in order to position themselves in the right unit price.
Considering the economic crisis in most of Europe, I would not be surprised that this crosses the Atlantic quite soon. Let’s count the weeks….
By Oliver Nieburg.
Packaging 27/03/2012
Hello,
Today I attach two articles about packaging and sizes of the gum pieces. They are from the last quarter of last year but I had them in my files and I wanted to share them with you.
The first one is about US market and how the two giants try to go smaller in order to boost sales. Interestingly, smaller units have been the only way to sell gums in many developing countries. However, some years ago we saw big packagings being launched into the market in many developed countries (come to my mind the plastic bottles containing over 60 grams of dragees, devised to be convenient to carry in the car).
The second one describes a study carried out in Spain and it seems to go more around aesthetics (mentions the preference of customers for slim packaging and warm colours) than around the economical implications of using such packagings.
Both interesting, even from different markets and from different point of view.
Wrigley and Kraft opt for smaller gum packs at reduced rates to boost US sales and reflect consumer spending trends
25-Oct-2011 Oliver Nieburg
Spanish youth want slim pack gum in warm colours – study
17-Nov-2011 Oliver Nieburg
Young adults in Spain who are biggest chewing gum consumers in the nation prefer slim pack gums in warm colours, according to a report from Spanish researchers.
Copyright William Reed Business Media
Kraft new name 22/03/2012
Kraft foods has announced that the new name for its Global Snacks Company will be MONDELEZ. The North American grocery business will keep the Kraft name.
We will be seeing this name on the shelves around the world. It sounds quite Spanish to me (this termination in “-ez” is like Spanish names Gomez, Martinez, Rodriguez, Sanchez…) but maybe is just a personal bias. I don’t know how it sounds to American (or other countries) ears. It seems that this name combines the words “Monde” (= world) and “Delez” (= delicious). So we have a “Delicious world” !!
Medicated confectionery 21/03/2012
I attach an article that, even if not discussing chewing gum in itself, it informs about medicated confectionery, so it is relevant for our industry. Adding functionality to the chewing gum has been one of the main drivers for growth in recent years, so we have to keep our eyes opened in this field.
Market opportunities in medicated confectionery – Leatherhead
By Oliver Nieburg, 26-Jan-2012
Medicated confectionery such as cough and throat sweets has enjoyed an upsurge in recent months and there is scope for new products to enter the category, according to Leatherhead Food Research
http://www.confectionerynews.com/Markets/Market-opportunities-in-medicated-confectionery-Leatherhead/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily&c=0%2FaKxp4dYMVn8faoLTf0JA%2BfGfW3Ucov
Copyright 2000/2012 William Reed Business Media
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