Gummy and chewy candies offer a range of textural attributes, but new research from Cargill finds not every bite is equally pleasing to consumers.

“Gummies can be made out of a variety of ingredients, resulting in textures that range from soft to hard to stick-to-your-teeth,” explains Courtney LeDrew, a senior marketing manager at Cargill. “We wanted to understand how consumers’ viewed those different sensory experiences, and what impact they might have on their ultimate purchase decisions.”

Before embarking on the trial, Cargill’s confectionery application team was tasked with creating six distinct gummy samples, using corn syrup, tapioca syrup, pectin, gelatin, carrageenan, and starch—the texturizing ingredients most commonly found in current products. The final samples spanned the gummy texture universe, covering:

• Soft/smooth bites with one option made using pectin and tapioca syrup, and another made with pectin and corn syrup,
• A slightly hard/chewy texture using pectin, starch, and corn syrup,
• A firm mouthfeel created with carrageenan and corn syrup,
• Hard/long chew experiences using gelatin and corn syrup, and
• A waxy/sticky example using starch and corn syrup.

Ultimately, nearly 130 respondents participated in the study, all regular purchasers and consumers of gummy candies or supplements. In the blind trial, study participants evaluated all six samples.

Cargill’s LeDrew reports that the gummies made with pectin and corn/tapioca syrup were the clear winners, receiving overall liking scores that averaged a full point or more above samples made with gelatin, carrageenan, or starch alone. Those findings aligned with the texture correspondence analysis, which offered detailed insight into consumers preferred mouthfeel experiences.

“Consumers described the pectin samples with words like airy, smooth and easy to break down while chewing, textural attributes that also rose to the top of our study,” LeDrew said. “At the other end of the spectrum, consumers rated the gummy with stick-to-your-teeth cohesion as the least appealing texture.”

As part of the trial, two distinct consumer groups became apparent: those that preferred the soft chew afforded by pectin and corn/tapioca syrup, and another cohort drawn to the harder bite associated with gelatin. For manufacturers looking to develop gummies, this suggests there’s white space on both ends of the texture spectrum.

“One thing is clear—consumers are highly attuned to textural differences in gummy and chewy candies—and their individual preferences have a significant impact on purchase intent,” LeDrew says. “Brands eyeing the gummy space would be well served to prioritize mouthfeel in their product development journey, leveraging expertise from ingredient suppliers to achieve textures that appeal to their consumer target.”