My gum rant and the free market economy

As some of you know I am a big big fan of chewing gum; all my life. When I came here I brought with me six packs of Orbit and a brand called "5." I'll chew a pack a week, usually. Orbit and "5" are my favorites and possible the best gum ever made. Finally, Wrigley's made advances in their gum products which leave their classic "Spearmint" gum (a terrible and horrible gum) in the crypt. Both Orbit and "5" have outstanding flavor which lasts a long time, they are sugarless and don't loose their gummy consistency after twenty or sixty minutes and perhaps most importantly, I don't have the urge to swallow the gum which, according to folklore, is not digested in our bodies...

Anyways, I've tried seven kinds of gum here by Lotte. There's Flavano. A mint flavored gum which after twenty minutes, you want to swallow and usually do. I've had that same experience with every gum made here. Another gum they make is a bubble gum. It's weak. Today I tried their ginseng gum which surprisingly was good and the flavor last a long time even after maneuvering in the cold and damp of Suwon. But who wants to chew on ginseng for sixty minutes?

Lotte's bubbles blow. No strength or sizable bubbles. Not fun. There are two or three major companies that make gum here and they all suck. The most popular brand and perhaps the most distributed are made by Lotte. Most if not all gum is made by this Korean Chaebol. All loose flavor quickly, few selection of sugarless and the consistency changes. Nobody knows, perhaps, that these gums suck. They have no comparison to excellent gum products. It could be cultural in the sense that they don't have the habit of chewing gum for more than twenty minutes...Which brings me to the topic of today's blog.

Would access to "superior" gum vis a vis the free market, improve Korea's gum? If Korea allowed Wrigley's Orbit and "5" entry into the gum market here, what would happen to Korean gum companies like Lotte? When the "borders" open to imports like gum, companies like Lotte that have been living large on their "successes" will have to trim the fat to become lean and mean again. This, of course, provided that people here would find Orbit "superior" to taste. Maybe Koreans are not used to chewing more than twenty minutes or more? Maybe Westerners chew too much gum which may cause more wear on our teeth?

Orbit and "5" are sugarless gums and have excellent flavors and varieties. I think that they would slam any Korean gum product either regular (w/ sugar) or not. People would abandon their favorite Korean Lotte gum for Orbit or "5." Lotte, the Korean company, maker of cookies and gum, could not compete. The free market would force Korean companies to re-evaluate and make a better gum product or leave the market. All I am saying I am in favor of more flavor.

If the market did open, I would buy a case of Orbit gum in case these American companies are shunned by the Korean public or taken down by some Nationalist bureaucrat. Koreans like Americans are full of pride about their companies but much more nationalistic and protectionist. A lot of products are available here, like Honda Accords, but they are heavily taxed via import duties. It's rare to see a Benz or a Beemer. If you own one of these cars in Korea, that means you have money, a lot of money. Most people who own a car purchase a Korean one. Korea protects its products by heavy import taxes. I don't have stats yet, my friends.

Of course the free market has mixed result with economies. But damn it I want my gum! F#@%IT: I can order it on the Internet.