Chew on this! Glee Gum, a sustainable affair!

Alternative Channel's Leaders in Sustainability Series

Leaders In Sustainability is an exclusive series of interviews with those at the fore of the sustainability movement, both in the corporate and non-profit sectors.

By Joanie Bergeron Poudrier

Have you ever wondered what your daily chewing gum is made of? With all the new trends in gum – long-lasting flavor and teeth whitening, to name a few – it’s wise to question whether these products are made with natural ingredients. We’re guessing not! But can you imagine chewing a gum made of 100% sustainably-harvested ingredients? Alternative Channel’s Joanie Bergeron Poudrier recently discussed with Glee Gum’s President Deborah Schimberg about how making chewing gum in Central America can be a sustainable affair.

JBP-What is Glee Gum in a nutshell?

DS-Glee Gum makes an all natural chewing gum. It is the only company in North America that uses chicle, the raw material that all chewing gum used to be made from. Ancient Mayan culture used chicle, a latex that comes from the chicosapote tree, for many purposes. They used it as a glue to solidify pyramids or just to chew it as a gum.

JBP-How exactly do you get chicle?

DS- The chicosapote trees are taped by the chicleros, just like we tap maple trees in Canada to get maple syrup. The chicleros climb on the trees with spiky boots and with a machete they cut the tree trunks with big X’s and the sap flows down these incisions to be collected at the bottom of the tree. They do around 10-12 trees every day and at the end of the day they collect the sap and boil it in a big cauldron. After stirring it over fire for few hours, they end up with a sticky mixture which they put into wooden molds that are later on processed industrially to remove any impurity.

JBP-Why is the chicle not as popular as it used to be in the chewing gum industry?

DS-Once upon a time all chewing gums were made from chicle, it was an important industry in Mexico for many years. But after World War II, the demand for chewing gum had grown so much especially because American soldiers used to bring chewing gums in their rations when they were in stations overseas. So it got people interested in chewing gum all over the world. For the high demand the industry got, it became expensive and too long of a process to use natural chicle. The chewing gum companies figured out how to make synthetic and less expensive gum base. This caused the demand for chicle to fell instantly .

JBP-Why did you decide to get involved in the natural chicle industry?

DS-I was very interested in the idea of using the markets in North America and Europe to help support community development in the places where raw materials for chewing gum comes from . We created our chewing gum to use chicle because we want to provide a market for this product to support the chicleros and their community. We also want to build awareness about the rainforest of Central America, and the important part that non timber forest products play in terms of conservation.

JBP-What is the reward you get from using sustainably harvested chicle ?

DS-I went recently to the annual meeting of all the representative of the chicleros, which represent about 200 families involved in extracting the chicle. We are involved now in providing scholarship money for sons of chicleros interested in furthering their education in biology, sustainable development or ecotourism , etc. And by talking to the group about what we do at Glee Gum to help their communities, I was very moved to see their happy faces . When we realize that the sale of our gum makes it possible for these people to live a more sustainable lifestyle and to help conserve the forest instead of chopping it down, this is where we get our reward!

JBP-What are the other organizations supported by Glee Gum?

DS- We are a member of 1% for the planet, so we give 1% of our gross sales to these two organizations that support the environment:

The Cloud Forest School which mission is to encourage a new generation of ecologically aware, bilingual individuals with the skills and motivation to make environmentally and socially conscious decisions on a local, national and global scale"

The Forest Foundation promotes sustainable livelihoods through environmental education and “green” business development. "The mission of The Forest Foundation is to assist artisans, producer groups and other entrepreneurs living in and around areas of high biodiversity."

JBP-What do you hope for the chicleros ?

DS-By selling a million pack of gum a year with the word «chicle » written on it, we hope people will better understand their connection with the chicleros, the architects of chicle, and give them the credit for it.

JBP-Glee Gum is a good model to follow, what would you say to other companies trying to deal with developing communities ?

DS-We believe that business should be more of a partnership than simply a transaction. It is not easy to figure out all these things, but this is our vision. If we can have a close relationship with the makers of our chicle, we ensure that they are not exploited and we also guarantee that the forest is used in a sustainable way.

JBP-Would you say that all the hard work to get natural chicle is really worth it ?

DS- To me, it is! But clearly, for much bigger companies it is not, because they get smaller profit and more hassle out of it. With all the new trends in gum; teeth whitening ones, others that help you quit smoking, long lasting flavor ones, etc. the gum base for these companies doesn’t really matter.
At Glee Gum we ensure that we make an all natural chewing gum made of non-synthetic ingredients, so our gum is aspartame free. We believe that a small treat shouldn’t harm you in a any way, chewing gum should be a pleasure all the way.

JBP- What would you wish for Glee Gum in the next few years.

DS- We would like to expand our product line with sugar free gum. We also would like to define even more our relationship with the chicleros. Last year Hurricane Dean affected the forest of southern Mexico and the amount of chicle harvested was less than the previous years. As a result, the income of the chicleros have been affected. So, we would like, in the next few years, to be able to work together and to stabilized the relation between consumers and producers so that the earning of the chicleros can be more steady and assured.

JBP- Thank you Deborah and I wish you the best of luck in Glee Gum’s expansion and hope that other chewing gum companies will embrace your sustainable path as well.

DS-Thank you so much!

To read more about Glee Gum visit their website here.

The flavor does drop off faster than the artificial gums, but I haven’t had any issues with it sticking to my teeth or dental work.
Thanks for sharing this great post.

With soy allergies at an all-time high, and a major allergen in our own family, this gum is a welcome discovery.
That was a such good read for me, thank you for sharing this out.

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I for one have been really watching what kind of gum I have been chewing nowadays.  A lot of people just trust these companies and never even think that the gum they are chewing could affect there way of living.  You have to be smart people, everything around us affects us.  What we breathe in, eat, drink etc… They are just finding out that plastic bottles if left in a warm car can leach into your drink.  So if you are going to put anything in your mouth, try and research it first.  It’s great that this company has come forth and made an all natural gum from the chicosapote trees.  I would of never guessed gum could come from trees, but as long as it’s safe.

from many days i was waiting for this stuff sir..
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With soy allergies at an all-time high, and a major allergen in our own family, this gum is a welcome discovery.
well, will this chocklets exports to russia??
we dont have different species
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It’s great that this company has come forth and made an all natural gum from the chicosapote trees.  I would of never guessed gum could come from trees, but as long as it’s safe.

hahah.. nice to hear that company releases sweat chocklets :D:D
That was a such good read for me, thank you for sharing!!
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Very interesting read, I never knew how they made gum or anything about this intriguing company.
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I have never tried this gum, but it seems they have a great variety of flavors. I would love to try it!
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I like first and 2nd pic mostly..The flavor does drop off faster than the artificial gums, but I haven’t had any issues with it sticking to my teeth or dental work.

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