A Gummy's Origin Took a Surprising Turn | Rewind Factory #02
Short answer
- Rewinding a gummy leads to gelatin — processed collagen — and this example follows the route from pig skin.
- Collagen is unwound and partially broken down; the water-filled gelatin network gives the gummy its bounce.
- Other routes use cattle hides or bones, and some gummies use pectin instead of gelatin.
Video
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Explained
In the video
- 0:00Where does a gummy come from?
- 0:30What filled the molds?
- 0:58Where do the ingredients split?
- 1:30What was there before the powder?
- 2:06What does the raw material look like?
- 2:28How does skin give the gummy its bounce?
- 3:38What did the pretreatment do?
- 4:06Where was it raised?
- 4:34Where does the rewind end?
- 4:46How does the route look played forward?
- 5:06Are we back at the store?
- 5:20What is Rewind Factory?
We rewind a gummy through its bag, box and factories to discover what the ingredient behind its bounce looked like before it became powder.
The route in reverse
This is one example route. Some transport and processing steps are omitted, and the video does not trace a particular product, factory, farm or animal. Some gummies use ingredients other than gelatin.
| Place | What happens as we rewind | Era or date |
|---|---|---|
| Store | Follow the gummy back to its bag and box, then reverse its delivery route. | No date specified |
| Candy factory | Rewind packaging → oil coating → starch molds → liquid before setting → the point where the ingredients separate. From here, follow only the gelatin. | No date specified |
| Gelatin plant | Powder → dry, noodle-like gelatin strands → moist jelly strands → liquid. Reverse sterilization, concentration (removing water), purification and extraction from pig skin in warm water, then pass backward through washing and acid treatment to the raw-material container. | No date specified |
| Meat processing facility | Follow the raw-material container back to a meat processing facility, linking the skin to meat production. | No date specified |
| Farm | Return to where the pig was raised, with the skin's surface transitioning into the skin of a living pig. | No date specified |
The detour explaining collagen's structure follows manufacturing order, from collagen to gelatin.
See the video description for photo and footage credits, licenses and details of modifications.
What this episode shows
- Gelatin gives this gummy its bounce. When cooled, it forms a network that holds water.
- Before becoming powder, gelatin goes through a drying step as noodle-like strands.
- Gelatin is made by unwinding and partly breaking down collagen, which helps support skin. This route follows pig skin from meat production.
Shorts
Sources
Where the facts and numbers in the video and on this page come from.
- Syntegon — Producing the perfect gummies and jellies (starch molds, liquid depositing and oil coating)syntegon.com/news/producing-the-perfect-gummies-and-…
- Nitta Gelatin — Gelatin manufacturing (Japanese) (pretreatment, washing, extraction, purification, concentration, sterilization, cooling, drying and grinding)nitta-gelatin.co.jp/ja/labo/gelatin/04.html
- GME — Manufacturing of gelatine (the pig-skin process and its connection to meat production)gelatine.org/en/gelatine/manufacturing.html
- Nitta Gelatin — FAQ on collagen and gelatin (Japanese) (processing collagen into gelatin)nitta-gelatin.jp/Page/faq.aspx
- Trends in Food Science & Technology — Gómez-Guillén et al. (2009) (“Fish gelatin: a renewable material for developing active biodegradable films,” for the partial breakdown involved in making gelatin)doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2008.10.002
- Nitta Gelatin — Gelatin business (Japanese) (setting on cooling and holding water)nitta-gelatin.co.jp/ja/business_activites/products/gelatin.…
- arXiv — Pelc et al. (2012 manuscript; published 2014) (“Role of microscopic phase separation in gelation of aqueous gelatin solutions,” for gelatin's network structure)arxiv.org/abs/1207.4896
- GELITA — CONFIXX (alternative formulations using pectin)gelita.com/sites/default/files/2025-09/confixx_fol…
- Shoulders & Raines (2009), Collagen Structure and Stabilitypmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2846778
- Wang & Hartel (2022), Confectionery gels: Gelling behavior and gel properties of gelatin in concentrated sugar solutions, Food Hydrocolloids 124, 107132doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2021.107132
- Therma Process, Belt dryers for the gelatin industrythermaprocess.com/products/belt-dryers-for-the-gelatin-in…
- Close-up video of candies — Tima Miroshnichenko — Pexels —pexels.com/video/close-up-video-of-candies-7033608
- Close-up video of candies — Tima Miroshnichenko — Pexels — https://www.pexels.com/video/close-up-video-of-candies-7033608/ (Pexels Licensepexels.com/license
- Colorful candy display at market — Sururi Ballıdağ Director — Pexels —pexels.com/video/colorful-candy-display-at-market-…
- A person taping a box — SHVETS production — Pexels —pexels.com/video/a-person-taping-a-box-7205591
- Truck on a highway (video 180618) — Oleg_Pikhalenok — Pixabay —pixabay.com/videos/id-180618
- Truck on a highway (video 180618) — Oleg_Pikhalenok — Pixabay — https://pixabay.com/videos/id-180618/ (Pixabay Content Licensepixabay.com/service/license-summary
- Herd of cows — Pixabay — Pexels —pexels.com/video/herd-of-cows-855340
- Pigs in enclosure on farm — Magda Ehlers — Pexels —pexels.com/video/pigs-in-enclosure-on-farm-13693035
- Raw pork skin.jpg — Fumikas Sagisavas — Wikimedia Commons —commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raw_pork_skin.jpg
- Raw pork skin.jpg — Fumikas Sagisavas — Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raw_pork_skin.jpg (CC0 1.0creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0
- Red gummy on the thumbnail — StevenGiacomelli — Pixabay —pixabay.com/photos/candy-gummy-bear-red-gummy-sugar…
Voice, music, art
- Music (OpenTracks): “時計図書館” by MATSU / “考え中” by 鷹尾まさき
- Sound effects: Tape recorder rewind (Fanmade) — simplewave — CC0 — https://freesound.org/s/372876/ ; small bell_3.wav — 15HVojta_Michael — CC0 — https://freesound.org/s/462043/ ; Electric Train Motor Idle — JotrainG — CC0 — https://freesound.org/s/647663/ ; Interface Sounds — Kenney — CC0 — https://kenney.nl/assets/interface-sounds (modified). Pouch, particle, liquid and bounce sounds are synthesized.
- Voice: Kokoro, Sarah
- Fonts: Zen Maru Gothic, Inter (SIL Open Font License)
