System and method for forming and cooling chewing gum

A system for forming and cooling gum, the system comprising:

• a forming system configured to size the gum;
• a cooling device that is disposed in-line with said forming system and configured to continuously receive the gum from said forming system at an entry point of said cooling device;
• a multi-pass conveying system configured to continuously transport the gum from said entry point to an exit point of said cooling device, said forming system and said cooling device being configured to form and cool the gum to be in a condition for stacking or collecting upon exiting said exit point of said cooling device;
• wherein said multi-pass conveying system further includes multiple vertically displaced conveyor belts;
• wherein each belt of said multiple vertically displaced conveyor belts is horizontally offset with respect to a vertically adjacent belts, so that when said gum reaches an end of a belt, said gum falls to a horizontally offset belt.