Hi-Chew – Sono Mama (Plain)

An interesting gimmick for today is what if we took your beloved Hi-Chew, and just removed all flavour from it? This flavour is…flavourless? The idea here is that this is the true, plain essence of a piece of Hi-Chew. Unadulterated, pure chew and texture, with no flavour to affect it. It may seem really silly and I’m sure someone somewhere will be making a meme how companies have gotten so lazy they don’t even add flavour. While I do think there’s some truth to that, the goal of this type of flavour, as seen with other brands and products, is when people want to have something in their mouth to chew but without the distraction of flavours or added ingredients. I guess I could kind of understand if someone needs that for some sort of oral fixation, or trying to kick an addiction without replacing it with another harmful habit.

There is next to no smell to this, and the hint of smell I do get reminds me of the sticky adhesive found on envelopes. Do people still use envelopes or send letters? That adhesive that envelopes had is really the only thing I can think of when smelling and tasting these.

Trying to describe the flavour of a flavourless piece of candy is interesting and honestly a little surreal. As I chew on this and try to figure out how to describe it, I’m sort of at a loss for words. I should first mention that the piece itself isn’t truly flavourless, and plain is more of an apt description. Similar to the smell, it has a sweet flavour to it which is not unlike a simple syrup that you would add to a drink to sweeten it up. In fact, the taste is somewhat familiar to me, but I can’t quite think of how to describe it or what to compare it to. I am reminded of inexpensive Chinese pastries I had as a kid, and having that same sweet quality to it.

The texture is the classic Hi-Chew experience, and it really is front and center here since the flavour is very plain and absolutely not the focus. Or maybe I misunderstood the assignment and the flavour is the main focus but the texture is not? Either way there is nothing of the texture that deviates from the classic one we have all come to know and love. In this particular case it neither adds or subtracts from the experience, and is merely a vessel for us to experience the no-taste flavour.

I actually enjoy the gimmick here, but that’s all it is to me, a gimmick. Something fun to try once or twice but not something I would get again. Maybe I’m not the target audience, but I’d rather get something more flavourful if I’m going to be snacking.