Revolutionary removable chewing gum hits the market

The world’s first easily removable and degradable chewing gum has been launched on the multi-billion dollar US consumer market.

Rev7TM is the latest commercial chewing gum to emerge from Bristol University spin-out company, Revolymer®, based on a compound originally invented by chemistry Professor Terence Cosgrove.

An environmentally friendly product, the chewing gum can be removed readily from clothes using soap and water, and tests have shown that more than 50% can be removed by conventional street cleaning, and any gum washed into the drains will degrade into minerals, biodegradable products and inert materials.

Peppermint and spearmint flavours were officially released in the US, the world’s largest chewing gum market, to consumers and attendees at the National Association of Convenience Store Show (NACS) this week. Revolymer already plans to launch additional flavours next year, rivalling leading chewing gum brands.

Prof Cosgrove said: “This is like a dream come true for me seeing academic research result in a real commercial product. The team at Revolymer has done a brilliant job in making this great tasting, environmentally friendly chewing gum. There are also several other exciting ventures in the pipeline.”

It is estimated that over 300,000 tons of chewing gum will be sold this year in the US alone and after chewing this results in approximately 120,000 tons of residual chewing gum cuds which remains in the environment every year.

Chris Tamillo, Revolymer's Vice President of Sales and Marketing who led the launch of Rev7TM, said: “Revolymer is offering a premium product that will change the chewing gum industry significantly. There is both an appetite for this new brand in the US and a willingness to provide consumers with a product that is better for the environment but does not sacrifice on quality.”

Commercialisation of Revolymer's proprietary gum technology follows the successful completion of the "GRAS" regulatory approval process earlier this year. It is expected to be available in retail stores early in 2011 with Revolymer working with national and regional distributors to achieve broad distribution as quickly as possible.

“Revolymer®’s technology contributes towards solving a very costly and environmentally challenging problem. We're seeing enormous enthusiasm from everyone we speak to in the US about the potential of our chewing gum," added Roger Pettman PhD, Chairman and CEO of Revolymer.