Hi-Chew

Hi-Chew (ハイチュウ) is a Japanese fruit candy sold by Morinaga & Company.

Origin
Hi-Chew candy was first released in 1975. It was re-released in the packaging of individually wrapped candies in February 1996.

The origins of Hi-Chew began when Taichiro Morinaga sought to create an edible kind of chewing gum which could be swallowed because of the Japanese cultural taboo against taking food out of one's mouth while eating. Morinaga already produced caramel. By combining chewy caramel with flavoring, Morinaga was able to create a new candy called Chewlets in 1931. The business was hampered immensely by World War II and had to be rebuilt from scratch. Chewlets were reintroduced in the form of Hi-Chews, as they are known today.

Description
Hi-Chew candies are individually wrapped in logo-stamped foil or plain white wax paper (depending on the location). Each individual candy piece has an outer white coating (the same for most flavors) and a colored, flavored interior. Exceptions to the rule are the Strawberry Cheesecake, Yogurt, Cotton Candy, Sweet and Sour Mix, and Superfruit Mix flavors which have an outer colored coating with a white, flavored inside whereas the Cola flavored Hi-Chews are brown colored.

The texture is similar to a cross between chewing gum and fruit-flavored candies in the United States and other western countries such as the German brand Mamba or the British brand Starburst. Hi-Chew is commonly sold in Taiwan, Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Outside of Asia the candy is sold in specialty shops and import stores..

Special editions are sometimes released, normally focusing on a specific fruit farmed in Japan and the location where they are grown, examples include Seto Inland Sea Lemon and Okinawan Shikuwasa.

Beginning in 2012, Hi-Chew became a gluten-free product. Although the candy never actually contained gluten ingredients, it had been processed in factories that processed gluten. It contains gelatin ingredients derived from pork, so it is not halal, kosher, or vegetarian.

Hi-Chew's ingredients include glucose syrup, sugar, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, gelatin, natural and artificial flavors, strawberry juice from concentrate, DL-malic acid, citric acid, emulsifiers, sodium lactate solution, and natural colors (beta-carotene, carmine). It may contain soybeans. The product also may be processed in facilities which use dairy products.

In the United States
After seeing increased sales in Salt Lake City in the early 2010s attributed to Latter-Day Saint missionaries who had visited Japan, Hi-Chew began a marketing campaign with Major League Baseball players. U.S. sales grew from $8 million in 2012 to more than $100 million in 2021.

Hi-Chew is available in many flavors in the United States: candy apple, strawberry ice cream, key lime pie, Blue Hawaii (a citrus and pineapple flavor), blue raspberry, rainbow sherbert, raspberry, blueberry, black cherry, watermelon, green apple, dragonfruit, strawberry, grapefruit, kiwi, mango, grape, lemon, açai, cola, ramune, banana, plain yogurt, blueberry yogurt, strawberry yogurt, lilikoi, and pineapple. Hi-Chew Sours and Hi-Chew Bites were released in February 2016. Hi-Chew Sours flavors include lemon, watermelon, and grapefruit. Hi-Chew combos contain two flavor blends, tropical smoothie (passionfruit plus mango) and pina colada (pineapple plus coconut). Hi-Chew plus fruit contain two flavors plus real fruit bits: orange plus tangerine and red apple plus strawberry. Hi-Chew Bites are soft chew candy blended with already established flavors, "grape and strawberry" and "mango and orange". Since its inception, over 170 flavors of Hi-Chew have been created.

In 2016, Hi-Chew opened its first production factory in North Carolina.

In early 2018, Hi-Chew began a contest known as "East meets West"; user-submitted votes decide which of their Japanese line of flavors should be introduced to a Western audience. On April 11, 2018, Hi-Chew's Instagram account officially announced that Dragon Fruit had won the competition and would be coming to the United States the following year.

As of 2023 in the United States, Hi-Chew is sold at Walmart, Target, 7-Eleven, Staples, Walgreens, Dick's Sporting Goods, Five Below, H Mart, CVS Pharmacy, Nordstrom Rack, Best Buy, FedEx Office, and other chain stores.

Product recall
In 2008, Morinaga recalled some of its Hi-Chew products due to complaints that rubber-like material had been found in the candy. It was discovered that a piece of a worker's glove had fallen into a cooking vat at the Hyogo Morinaga factory. The green apple and grape flavored varieties of Hi-Chew which had a 2009 expiration date were recalled. Some of the affected products had been exported to Hong Kong; the Centre for Food Safety monitored the situation there, warning the public against its purchase or consumption.