Food & Drink Awards 2019

Page 52 www.lux-review.com LUXlife 2019 Food & Drink Awards Created by Marie Pallas, Honest Gum grew out of her love of this sweet treat. An avid gum chewer, Marie was horrified to discover that the gum products she was chewing were laced with synthetic sweeteners, nu- merous plastics and polymers. The existence of these unhealthy additives is often hidden from consumers using carefully chosen words and small print, meaning that many who are chewing these products do not know the potential health risks they face. Thanks to loopholes conventional gum companies can hide Designed to be a unique alternative to traditional, additive filled chews, Honest Gum is a 100% natural chewing gum, sugar free, plastic free and made the traditional way using chicle, a sustainably harvested natural sap from the Mexican sapodilla tree. As we celebrate the firm’s win in the 2019 Food and Drink Awards, in which it was awarded not one but two of these prestigious accolades, we explore its history and how it has championed natural gum products since its inception more than five years ago. Honest Gum: Most Sustainable Natural Food Product: Honest Gum & Best Sugar-Free Chewing Gum Manufacturer 2019 numerous synthetic ingredients in the term ‘gum base’ without the requirement for labelling, meaning that consumers often do not know what they are ingesting. Knowing that there must be a better alternative, Marie set out to create it herself when she found there was nothing else on the Australian market at the time. She searched for a natural sustainable alternative and found that the traditional way was to make it with chicle, a natural, sustainably sourced tree sap from the Mexican Sapodilla Tree. From this discovery Honest Gum was born. Over the years the firm has grown to provide its products to a wide range of retailers. Today the firm supplies natural health food stores, grocers, supermarkets, cafes and wholesale retailers around the world with its award-winning, natural gum alternative. Arguably a tasty version of the mass-produced versions, Honest Gum is entirely free from additives and as such is a better alternative for consumers’ health. The gum also has additional health benefits thanks to its natural ingredients. For example, the firm’s Ginger Lemon chewing gum, which is made with 15% ginger root, has helped some people with nausea, pregnancy, travel sickness and much more. Looking to the future, Honest Gum will continue to grow its offering of delicious, natural gum products that its clients can enjoy safe in the knowledge that they are made only using fresh, natural ingredients. As its products become increasingly popular the firm will add some exciting new flavours as well as expanding its reach by working with even more stockists over the years to come. Company: Honest Gum Contact: Marie Pallas Website: www.honestgum.com.au