Chewing gum has been manufactured with the same basic formula for the better part of a century: synthetic polymer base, sweetener, flavour.
But as established brands have such a tight grip on the market, new entrants are having to think of different ways to carve their place. This means rethinking formulation rather than fighting for sales share based purely on branding and marketing.
It’s an interesting example of how category saturation pushes innovation. Smaller, emerging brands have started pulling the product apart, swapping out base materials, rethinking sweeteners, and looking to complementary industries for inspiration. Some of those decisions have opened up retail channels and consumer groups the category has never previously reached.
Here’s a closer look at some of the newer brands changing chewing gum formulation, and how they’re doing it.
JAWCO: functional fitness gum
JAWCO sells chewing gum as jaw resistance training. Its product is formulated to be 15 times harder than a conventional stick of gum, engaging the masseter and temporalis muscles in a form of facial exercise.
The brand markets itself like a fitness supplement rather than a confectionery product, recommending 15 minutes of chewing per day, with rest days in between sessions.
JAWCO’s proposition shows how food products can borrow their USP from an entirely different industry. Its target audience — younger men interested in facial aesthetics — isn’t currently targeted by competitors in the gum category.
But brands thinking about functional repositioning must carefully consider their product claims. While statements like “freshens breath” and “sugar-free” have an established regulatory pathway in chewing gum marketing, jaw muscle tone and facial definition do not. The evidence needed to support claims like these should be scoped out as part of the product development process.
PUR: sweetened entirely with xylitol
PUR Gum has replaced aspartame with xylitol as its sole sweetener. It’s a simple change, but significant for chewing gum innovation.
Xylitol has anti-cariogenic properties, which means it disrupts the metabolism of the bacteria primarily responsible for tooth decay. It's long been an ingredient in oral care products such as toothpaste and mouthwash. However, chewing gum brands have defaulted to aspartame because it’s considerably sweeter than sugar and so requires far less per unit than other sweeteners.
Using xylitol as the only sweetener in its gum aligns PUR’s products with oral health rather than confectionery. The product is also non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free and keto-friendly.
PUR’s switch from aspartame to xylitol is an interesting lesson in how changing one core ingredient for a well-chosen, properly substantiated alternative can create new marketing and sales opportunities.
Nuud: plastic-free base made from sustainably harvested tree sap
Nuud has reformulated the base of its chewing gum compared to mainstream brands, replacing synthetic polymers with one derived from sustainably harvested tree sap. The resulting product is biodegradable and compostable.
Environmental impact is a growing concern in this category. Billions of pieces of chewing gum are discarded by consumers each year. Because a synthetic base doesn't degrade, it persists in the environment for decades — hardening, fragmenting, and eventually breaking down into microplastics.
Verifiable sustainability credentials at formulation level puts Nuud in a stronger position commercially and regulatorily than brands whose strategy rests on packaging claims or carbon offsetting.
But changing to a sap-based formula is a more complex development than switching out the sweetener. Gum’s base material affects texture, chew resilience, flavour release and shelf life, all of which need to perform for the product to sell.
Milliways: seven plant-based ingredients and a biodegradable, natural base
Nuud isn’t the only chewing gum brand focusing on sustainability. Milliways covers similar ground — natural gum base, biodegradable, no synthetic polymers — but pairs it with a stripped-back ingredient count.
The product features just seven ingredients in total: xylitol, steviol glycosides from stevia, natural gum base, vegetable glycerol, gum arabic, carnauba wax and natural flavourings. It appeals to consumers who want to know exactly what goes into their products and minimise exposure to synthetic ingredients.
What to consider if you're innovating in your own category
While these four chewing gum brands have different USPs, they share a common thread: they're rethinking traditional formulation and targeting consumer expectations that established players have not yet addressed.
For brands in other established categories considering a similar move, taking a reformulated product to market — particularly across multiple territories — raises considerations that are easier to resolve during development:
- Market-specific regulatory requirements: what's permissible under EU frameworks won't always match US or APAC requirements. Ingredient approvals may differ across markets, and those differences should inform your formulation.
- Claims substantiation: when a product does something genuinely new, any claims made on packaging and in marketing must be scientifically evidenced. A dental health claim is different regulatory territory to a functional fitness claim or a biodegradability statement — and each requires a certain standard of evidence. That work belongs in the development process.
- International labelling and compliance: rolling out a product across markets means more than translating languages. Ingredient declarations, allergen requirements, nutritional labelling formats and claim restrictions can all vary, and must be factored into product and packaging transcreation.
How Hooley Brown can help with compliant product development
Hooley Brown works with food, drink and supplement brands on international regulatory compliance, product and packaging localisation, market entry strategy and claims substantiation.
If you're developing a new product direction or planning to take an existing product into new markets, book an introductory call with our global brand experts.
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