Wait… Gum Is Made of What?

Wait… Gum Is Made of What?

From This Is Small Business by Amazon

March 3, 2026 · 17 min · Season 7 · Episode 97

About this episode

Caron Proschan discusses her journey from discovering harmful ingredients in gum to creating her own natural gum brand.

She didn’t mean to disrupt the gum industry. She just wanted gum that wasn’t made of plastic.  When Caron Proschan first found that out, she couldn’t ignore it. One piece of neon-blue gum after a healthy lunch sent her down a rabbit hole that ended with her hand-making natural gum in her apartment. In this episode of This Is Small Business, Caron shares how reading one ingredient label set off a chain reaction – from kitchen experiments and door-to-door Whole Foods pitches in Manhattan to building a factory of her own in Brooklyn. We get into proof of concept, the customer reviews that actually changed the product, and why sometimes not knowing how hard the entrepreneurial journey will be is exactly what gets you started. If you’ve ever looked at a product and thought, “Why is this like this?” – this one’s for you. Watch the full conversation on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Thisissmallbusiness In this episode of This Is Small Business , you'll learn about: (01:05) — What happens when you can’t un-see what’s on the label? (04:03) — Andrea tries the gum (and the mints… and the gummies) (04:48) — Can you really build a food brand without experts or investors? (06:27) — When do you…

People in this episode

Guest: Caron Proschan

Topics covered

  • entrepreneurship
  • natural products
  • food industry
  • product development
  • customer feedback
  • business growth

Keywords

  • gum
  • entrepreneurial journey
  • natural ingredients
  • product development
  • customer reviews
  • food brand
  • Amazon

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Whole Foods, Amazon

Places: Brooklyn, Manhattan

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