From #1 to Stock-Out: A Lesson in Growing Pains

Like they rightly say—with gud times, also come the not-so-gud times.

And in a startup’s life, those tides often turn faster than you can chew a piece of gum.

After our episode on Shark Tank, we were riding a beautiful wave. Month-on-month growth, increasing love from our customers, and a surprise milestone—Gud Gum had become the #1 chewing gum on Amazon India, organically. No ads, no hacks. Just the power of our product and the people who believed in it.

And then... it happened.

Our production head called it in: “We’re running low on gum base.”

Now, this isn’t just any raw material—it’s our hero ingredient, the soul of Gud Gum, sourced all the way from Mexico. Until then, we’d always imported it by air. It was expensive, but manageable since our order sizes were small.

But now, post-Shark Tank, things had changed. We had real volume.

And right when we needed the material the most—there was a ban on air imports. The only way forward? Sea freight.

We accounted for a lead time of 45–60 days. But we soon learned—logistics doesn’t follow your Excel sheet.

The vendor did his bit and sent the goods to the Mexican port. But then, the shipment just… sat there. For four weeks, waiting for a vessel.

Four weeks of radio silence.

Four weeks of no production.

Eight weeks of having our factory staff on payroll with no work to do.

It was heartbreaking.

We didn’t want to let anyone down—our team, our retailers, and especially, our customers. So we improvised.

We launched Gud Pops—a chickpea-based chocolate snack that didn’t require the gum base but still stayed true to our brand ethos. It wasn’t part of the plan. But startups rarely follow the script.

Retailers got impatient. Distributors began asking questions.

But in the middle of all that, we found a gift: time.

With the usual chaos paused, we finally had the breathing room to:

Visit our retailers offline and listen to what they need

Refine our factory processes

Conduct R&D with the small stock we’d saved for trials

Play with flavours, textures, and recipes that might’ve never been tested otherwise

We turned a stock-out into a step-up.

Now, we’re back.

Gud Gum is back in stock.

It’s better, tastier, and wiser—just like the team behind it.

So, if you were one of the folks who waited—thank you. Your patience means the world.

If you were one of the many who helped us reach the #1 spot on Amazon—let’s do it again.

This incident humbled us. It reminded us that while growth is exciting, it’s the hard days that shape your character as a founder.

This post isn’t a press release or a brand update—it’s just me being honest.

If there’s something—or someone—you think can help us avoid a situation like this again, or help us grow stronger, please write in. I read every mail at founders@gudgum.in.

Building Gud Gum has been the most meaningful journey of my life.

And every twist, even the hard ones, is a reminder that we’re on the right path.

—Mayank

Co-Founder, Gud Gum