(FORTUNE Small Business) – To date, the $1 billion breath-mint market has been dominated by big players like Pfizer's Listerine PocketPaks, Wrigley's Flash Strips, and Cadbury's Certs Cool Mint Drops. So why would 32-year-old Anthony Shurman of Westfield, N.J., try to compete for breathing room in such a crowded category? "We're a young, agile company. We have a totally unique product, and everything out there is boring, boring, boring," says Shurman. This March, Shurman--a former global-leadership associate for Warner-Lambert --introduced Momints, tiny, scorchingly strong capsules in a slender package. (The mints' "unique" quality may be their resemblance to roe.) Despite the absence of an advertising budget, Momints expects to pull in $1.2 million in sales this year. They are the 7-Eleven chain's second-best-selling mints after PocketPaks and will be available at CVS by Nov. 1. "We think we can win," says Shurman. "Then we can sell out to the big guys." --N.S.