A step too far? Calbee collaborates with Lotte to create chewing gum flavoured chips
Calbee teamed up with Lotte Corporation to produce flavours that were inspired by the confectionery producer’s top-selling Blueberry Gum and Ume Gum.
Ume Gum – on the market since 1976 – brings together the on-trend combo of Japanese plum and shiso (a plant of the mint family), while Lotte’s popular Blueberry Gum – created in 1982 – captures the sweet and sour notes of the berries.
According to Calbee, it wanted to create excitement in the highly crowded sector – potato chips are a high seller among Japanese consumers, registering JPY 237,602m ($2.24m) in 2019 sales – and get customers wondering “what they would taste like.” Well, that’s certainly been achieved.
The novel chips – sold in 50g packs – are available for a limited period at Don Quijote, APiTA and Piago stores nationwide for an expected RRP of JPY 120 ($1.13).
