Sustainability as Strategic Differentiator: The Promise and the Problems of Using Chicle vs. Petro-Chemicals in Chewing Gum

Karen Paul ()
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Karen Paul: International Business, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-13

Abstract: Chewing gum as a commercial product was traditionally based on chicle, mainly harvested by indigenous people from trees in the tropical forest of southeastern Mexico. Chicle gum base has now been replaced by a petro-chemical gum base by the major manufacturers. However, several smaller companies are again attempting to market chewing gum using a chicle gum base. The question raised here is, will the differentiation provided by chicle gum—being natural, organic, and “plastic-free”—provide sufficient differentiation for meaningful competition against the less expensive brands using a petro-chemical gum base? This case provides an interesting application of Michael Porter’s strategy model in which differentiation and value are competing strategies.

Keywords: barriers to green production; indigenous people; Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs); Mexico; rainforest; supply chain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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