IRVINE, Calif. — The makers of Hi-Chew, a Morinaga America Inc. brand, launched a new candy: Fi-Being. The new nonchocolate candy comes in two flavors, including Passionfruit and Elderberry.
The Passionfruit flavor features notes of sweet and tart and the Elderberry flavor brings an earthy and tart flavor balance.
“At Morinaga America, we constantly strive to provide our consumers with innovative, new products,” said Teruhiro Kawabe, president and CEO of Morinaga America Inc. “We are excited to expand our product line-up and introduce Fi-Being to consumers. The hard candy is unique and maintains the true-to-life flavors our products are known for. We are certain that consumers will enjoy this delicious new candy experience.”
Fi-Being is a better-for-you hard candy offering 39% of the recommended daily dietary fiber intake, according to the manufacturer. Fi-Being provides 11 grams of dietary fiber and 4 grams of sugar in every serving. It does not contain sugar alcohol.
Instead of using sugar alcohol, which may cause negative digestive issues or affect taste, Fi-Being uses dietary fiber, called Inulin, and other formulations to partially replace the candy's sugar content. According to the International Food Information Council Foundation 2015 Food and Health Survey, 63% of consumers consider fiber when making packaged food purchase decisions.
The candy is available in a 1.76-ounce bag for a suggested retail price of $3.29.
Irvine, Calif.-based Morinaga America Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Morinaga & Co. Ltd., is the official Hi-Chew distributor in the United States, selling the chewy candies in flavors such as Strawberry, Green Apple, Mango, Grape, Banana, Melon and Kiwi. The candy launched in the United States in 2008.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.