Collaboration Creates A Chewing Gum Sensation

Spanish confectionary Sanchez Cano came to Cargill with a tall order: a delicious, sugar-free chewing gum that can withstand any climate.

Seeing an opportunity to grow its family-owned business, Sanchez Cano sought Cargill's expertise for a new product: Fini Klét's^® proprietary sugar-free chewing gum.

To stand out in the highly competitive market, the gum required four key attributes: sweet flavor, pleasant texture, zero sugar and structural stability, as it would be distributed globally to countries with extreme climate variations.

For 17 months, specialists from both companies collaborated to find the perfect solution, testing countless recipes to produce the winning formula. In the end, they found it in an innovative combination, fusing two sugar alcohols (sorbitol and maltitol) with isomalt, a versatile, crystalline substance.

Introduced in 2011, Fini Klét's gum was an instant hit, rivaling more globally recognized sugar-free brands. In just two years, it achieved a 20% share increase in the sugar-free market. "It's been a major success," says José Morata, Marketing Manager for Sanchez Cano. "We've strengthened our competitive advantage."