A bunch of clever Kiwi students from Timaru's Mountainview High School have crafted a supercharged alternative to your on-the-job coffee or energy drink fix.
Crave, a chewing gum packed with caffeine, is the brainwork of Sunny Chen, Daniel Chernetski, Kawend Kuang, Jackson Cournane, Will Hendry-Davies, and Oliver Tulley.
They're part of the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), where young guns like them turn their cracking business ideas into the real deal.
Why caffeinated gum? Sunny Chen told The Timaru Herald he cooked up the idea during the stress of last year's final exams.
He grabbed the rest of his Crave crew, and they began brainstorming their product.
“I like to chew gum and I like the boost of caffeine, however, I don’t like coffee or energy drinks,” Chen said. “We want to use this idea of coffee and create a gum that you can eat on the go to get the same boost of coffee with a minty taste in your mouth.”
They've even got the research to back them too. “Caffeine that is consumed through chewing has been proven to enter your system more efficiently than drinking coffee or energy drinks,” Chen found.
Now, Crave's gearing up to launch their top-notch prototype, just waiting on the final touches for the packaging.
Their plan? To be everywhere we are - supermarkets, dairies, pharmacies and even online stores.
Chen shouted out their manufacturer Troy Widgery from Liquid Core, Kaitlin Clews from YES, and Richard Spackman from the Aoraki Foundation who all majorly helped their product become a reality.
And, of course, not forgetting their teacher Selena Charteris, who had their backs from day one.
Can't wait to get my mitts on the final product. As an energy drink fiend (guilty as charged), I'm all up for doing the swap.
