A group of savvy Kiwi students from Timaru's Mountainview High School have created a supercharged alternative to your morning coffee or energy drink fix.
Crave, a chewing gum packed with caffeine, is the brainchild of Sunny Chen, Daniel Chernetski, Kawend Kuang, Jackson Cournane, Will Hendry-Davies, and Oliver Tulley.
They're part of the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), where students turn their unique business ideas into reality.
So, why caffeinated gum? Well, Sunny Chen told The Timaru Herald the idea popped up during the stress of last year's final exams.
He gathered the rest of his Crave crew, and they began brainstorming their product.
“I like to chew gum and I like the boost of caffeine, however, I don’t like coffee or energy drinks,” Chen said. “We want to use this idea of coffee and create a gum that you can eat on the go to get the same boost of coffee with a minty taste in your mouth.”
They even found research and as it turns out, “Caffeine that is consumed through chewing has been proven to enter your system more efficiently than drinking coffee or energy drinks,” Chen found.
Now, Crave is on the brink of launching their ‘MVP’ (prototype), they’re just waiting on the packaging to be finalised.
Their plan? To be everywhere we are - supermarkets, dairies, pharmacies and even online stores.
“We want to add diversity to the caffeine market in New Zealand, a healthier, cheaper and more convenient way to add caffeine to your daily life."
Chen shouted out their manufacturer Troy Widgery from Liquid Core, Kaitlin Clews from YES, and Richard Spackman from the Aoraki Foundation who all majorly helped their product become a reality.
And, of course, they gave their teacher Selena Charteris her flowers for helping them get their company off the ground.
We can’t wait to see what the final product looks like, and as a die-hard coffee aficionado (guilty, I know), I'm all in for a fresh breath, healthier alternative.
