Gummies have completely overtaken chewing gum in the 100 billion yen market!　A battle of new products that are chewy and satisfying!

Gummies” have changed the history of the confectionery industry.

The gummy industry is finally about to become a huge market with a scale of 100 billion yen per year.

A shocking event that changed the history of the confectionery industry occurred about four years ago in 2009. For the first time in history, the market size of gummies, which had long lagged behind that of chewing gum, was reversed. At that time, gummy bears recorded annual sales of 63.5 billion yen, which grew to 78.1 billion yen in 2010 and 97.2 billion yen in 2011. Although the exact figures for 2012 are not yet available, given the recent growth, the gummi market would have easily exceeded 100 billion yen in sales.

How did the Japanese people stop eating gum and come to love gummy bears? Economic journalist Takai Naoyuki analyzes the situation as follows.

The year ’21 was the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. Gum was severely damaged by the decline in face-to-face communication and the loss of etiquette demand. Gummies, on the other hand, made great strides as a way to refresh oneself while working from home. While gum was, to a certain extent, fixed in terms of hardness and shape, gummy bears offered a variety of colors, shapes, tastes, and textures, and gained support as a familiar pleasure. They were also compatible with social networking sites because of their photogenic qualities. All in all, gummy bears are a confectionery that is in tune with the times.

The gummy market is booming, but its history in Japan is surprisingly short. Professor Kazuo Shiratori of Ryutsu Kagaku University explains.

In 1920, Hans Riegel, a confectioner in Bonn, Germany, started a small company called Haribo, and two years later developed the world’s first gummi called Dancing Bears. Later, it was renamed “Gold Bear” and is still loved around the world today. However, it was in 1980, about 60 years after Haribo, that the first gummy was launched in Japan. It was in 1980, about 60 years after Haribo, that Meiji developed “Cola-up. At the time, however, “Cola-Up” was a candy wrapped in a plastic wrap, similar to “Bon Temps candy. In 1985, “Gold Bear,” which had been available as a parallel import, officially arrived in Japan. In response, UHA Ajijikkogaku also launched “Cosmic 21,” and the number of players increased. At this point, however, the market was not very active and was limited to a few billion yen at best.

The situation changed drastically in 1988. It was in 1988 that the situation changed drastically when Meiji released “Fruit Juice Gummi,” which became an extraordinarily successful product.

At the time, hard gummies like Gold Bear were not to the liking of the Japanese. Therefore, Meiji sought to create a soft yet elastic chewing experience. The most popular flavor was grape. The person in charge at Meiji said, ‘Gelatin, the raw material of gummi, and grape-flavored ingredients are compatible with each other, and it is easy to feel the juiciness.

With the introduction of “Fruit Juice Gummies,” the gummy market grew to about 25 billion yen in 1990. Meiji continued to develop popular gummy products such as “Poifl” and “Xirish Gummi,” and continues to reign as the number one company in the gummy market to this day.

New products from companies aiming for the throne

However… However, Meiji is currently being outpaced by a number of rivals. Leading the charge to “defeat Meiji” is Kanro, a candy maker founded in 1912. In 2002, Kanro leaped to the forefront of the gummy industry with the launch of “Puree Gumi,” which later became the number one product in the industry.

At the time, most gummies were targeted mainly at children, but Puree Gummi was developed with the F1 demographic (women aged 20-34) as its core target. The sour powder, pulpy texture, and heart-shaped shape were characteristics that had not been seen in previous products, and there were also many variations, such as the less sour “Puree Ring” and the higher-priced “Puree Gumi Premium”. Women attracted by fashionable and cute things picked up Puree Gummi, and when they became mothers, they bought them for their children, who in turn became grandparents and started eating them too, creating a virtuous cycle.

In addition to “Puree Gummi,” Kanro has been gaining momentum with the launch in 2008 of “Marosh,” which has a marshmallow-like texture that changes from gummy to marshmallow as it is chewed, and is now reaching out to Generation Z. “Some people are saying, ‘Kanro is already selling Puree Gummi,'” says Shiratori.

Some people are saying, “I think Kanro has already caught up with Meiji,” said a trade journalist.

While Meiji and Kanro dominate the industry, a new trend has emerged in the gummy industry. The key word is “hardness,” which was frowned upon in the early days of the industry. The pioneering product was “Tough Gummi” (launched in 2002), developed by Kabaya Shokuhin, a confectionery manufacturer founded in 1946. These large gummies, characterized by their high elasticity, sour powder, and cube shape, have steadily increased in sales since their launch. In 2011, Kabaya Foods launched a commercial featuring actor Osamu Suzuka, 25, from Okayama City, where the company is headquartered, and last year it finally became the second biggest hit after “Puree Gummi.

The chewy product is also popular among men. In addition to “Tough Gummi,” Nobel Confectionery’s “Otoko Ume Gummi” is another example. Meiji, the champion, is also sensitive to this trend and has been displaying a six-level chewiness chart on each gummy package since 2009,” said confectionery expert Chihiro Matsubayashi.

UHA Ajikakugakko, the third largest company in the industry, has also been strengthening its lineup of hard products in recent years. Shigekix,” a long-selling product launched in 1992, also has a hard texture, and in addition to this, “Ninja Meal Steel (Hagane) Cola Flavor” was launched in 2010. As the name suggests, these gummies are as hard as steel.

In 2010, UHA Taste Gummi also released a transparent gummy product called “Water Gummi. This product was developed based on the concept of “looking and feeling like water,” and is attractive for its smoothness in the mouth. Ordinary gummies are made with sugar, but when heated, they turn brown due to the “Maillard reaction,” and the more gelatin is added, the more yellow they turn. Therefore, the amount of gelatin was reduced to the utmost limit by using konjac flour in addition to no sugar in “mizu-gumi. This is how the transparent gummy was completed,” said Shiratori.

Kororo” (released in 2002), which is a watery gummy wrapped in collagen, is another major product of UHA Ginkgo Sugar.

The molds used to manufacture the gummies can be easily made from cornstarch,” said Shiratori. In other words, compared to other confectioneries, it does not cost that much to invest in equipment. Therefore, the preparation period is short, and new products are easy to introduce.’ There were 370 types of gummies released in 19 years, but by ’23, the number had increased to 792. The gummy industry will continue to gain momentum in the future.

Meiji continues to take the high road, Kanro is close to the top with its number one brand, Kabaya Foods has created a new trend with its new texture, and UHA Taste Gummi. In the gummy industry, where each company is vying for a 10-20% share of the industry, the one who has created a new blockbuster hit will win this “chewy battle.

From the February 7, 2025 issue of FRIDAY