Tiny trains, huge numbers

Even tiny promotional goods such as fruit gums can have a big effect - you only need enough of them! And this is definitely the case with an order from DB Fernverkehr AG for a total of 24,000,000 (in words: twenty-four million) fruit gums for first-class passengers on the company's intercity trains.

The delicious welcoming gifts are of course moulded in the shape of miniature intercity carriages, and come in irresistible orange, passion fruit, lemon, cherry, pineapple and raspberry flavours. With the slogan "Great to have you as our guest" they are laid out as a sweet welcoming gesture for first-class passengers.

The order covers a period of two months, with the goods delivered to the customer on pallets. Over the coming weeks lots of passengers will have something sweet to nibble on: 24,000,000 fruit gums laid end to end would cover a distance of no less than 160 km! Over this distance the cyber-Wear team from Wipperfürth would be able to take a nice weekend trip to Maastricht in the Netherlands, or the colleagues from Heidelberg could travel to Strasbourg in France, including a detour to an ice cream parlour.

On the basis of a sketch the new fruit gum shape is first transferred to a milling machine, which then produces an initial sample mould. This is then used to create plaster moulds that stamp the desired shape into starch powder. For 1.5 million fruit gums alone, fruit gum mass is poured and dried for 7 days.  The small trains then receive a coating that prevents them from sticking together, after which they can embark on their long journey on Germany's railway tracks. Until of course a passenger feels like eating a sweet...