By gum, we've got it! Fun- filled sweets on the way
New 'gum to mould' technology provides a wealth of new product opportunities in confectionery, claims depositing specialist APV Baker.
Gum is the fastest growing area of confectionery, and being able to deposit it means that chewing gum products can have multi-coloured patterns and multiple shapes and flavours. Gum can also be injected into coloured, striped or transparent hard-boiled sweets. It is also possible for gum to have a jelly-filled centre, says APV, which has developed the technology with base supplier Cafosa and flavours supplier Firmenich.
"Generally gum is rolled into sheets or extruded from a nozzle to create pellets which are fairly uninteresting visually," says APV marketing manager Keith Graham.
Depositing paves the way for novel products, says Graham. Character merchandising is an option, as gum-filled boiled sweets and lollipops can be moulded into shapes such as bears or cars. He adds: "While children may prefer flavours such as strawberry and lemon, more sophisticated concoctions such as mint and vanilla may appeal to adults."
Gum could also become functional; for example, if it was filled with cough mixture jelly to soothe nasal congestion, says Graham. All products can be produced in sugar and sugar-free variants.
"There has been lots of interest from both confectioners and gum manufacturers and products will be on the shelves in the not too distant future," he says.
Depositing lines can be retro-fitted to existing plants and complete preparation-to-packaging depositing systems are available.
Hard-boiled sweets with chewing gum centres are made on depositing plants with aluminum moulds and the depositing of chewing gum-only products uses rubber moulds. APV depositor designs give manufacturers the option to produce a complete range of gum and gum-filled sweets on one production line.
