PARIS, April 21 — Good news for those of you who like to chew gum.
A company based in Copenhagen has launched a new vegan, plastic — and sugar-free chewing-gum.
More respectful of the planet, True Gum offers a biodegradable alternative to standard gum that sticks to city streets and takes years to decompose once it is thrown away.
Manufactured from plants and gum tree sap, the new product is certified palm oil free and presented in plastic-free packaging.
The base for the gum is made from chicle, a naturally occurring gum that has been harvested for centuries by “chicleros” in Mexico.
This is mixed with glycerine produced from rapeseed oil, a more sustainable alternative to palm oil.
Finally, True Gum is sweetened with xylitol derived from birch sap and stevia.
Bicycle tires and plastic bottles
The new product has been designed to offer an alternative to chewing gums made from plastic and synthetic sweeteners.
The creators of the brand, Peter Juul Regnersgaard and Morten Ebdrup, were appalled to discover that standard chewing gum is produced from the same substances that are used in plastic bottles and bicycle tires.
Worse still, it contains about a hundred chemicals and takes at least five years before it starts to degrade, which is a major environmental problem when you consider the three million tonnes or 374 billion packets of chewing gum that are produced every year.
Working at home from their shared kitchen, the duo, who were roommates at the time, set out to create the perfect gum recipe.
Having scoured the internet for advice and ingredients, the two Danes finally came up with the formula for True Gum after 471 separate trials. The True Gum brand was born.
One million euros worth of chewing gum
Today, the company produces 400,000 pieces a day from its Copenhagen factory, where True Gum employs 30 people, half of whom work in manufacturing.
The biodegradable gum is distributed worldwide, as far away as Australia.
Recently, the company attracted the attention of Oyster Bay, a German investment fund, specialising in vegan food startups, which has invested one million euros in the venture. — ETX Studio
