Lebanese manufacturer The Mastika Gum Co has expanded the distribution of Mastika, its award-winning mastic-flavored chewing gum.
Nael Shaar, Master Gum managing partner and marketing strategist, said the company has focused on getting Mastika into high-end retail channels, where the product’s uniqueness and gold-and-white tin will appeal to consumers.
“Mastic is very well known in the region, and we are the first company to offer this type of flavor in a luxurious and glamorous packaging in the region,” he said.
Mastic, an aromatic tree resin native to the Mediterranean, gives Mastika a pleasing floral flavor, with notes of citrus and pine. The sugar-free gum is sweetened with sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol, rather than aspartame. These features earned it the Innovation Award for Best Hard and Soft Candy at last year’s Yummex Middle East show, staged annually in Dubai.
Shaar said Mastika caught the attention of Riyadh-based Al Sameh Trading Co., an importing and distribution company owned by a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family. Shaar said Master Gum hopes to sell 72,000 Mastika tins in the first year of the agreement, for an expected revenue of $900,000. The tins will be distributed to major pharmacies and Dar Lavender, a high-end confectionery store in Riyadh that is also owned by the same member of the royal family.
Master Gum also expects to sell 5,000 tins of Mastika to Cedar Executive, an affiliate of Lebanon-based Middle East Airlines and provider of private jets. Shaar said the luxury service provider will offer the tins to clients.
“It’s giving us a very good exposure,” Shaar said. “From their side, they are able to offer now their high-end clients a chic product during their trip.”
