Is America’s taste for gum losing its flavour?
Hershey is seeking fresh ways to get North American consumers chewing again
“You can hear the wailing from the manufacturers. Gum is stuck. MARCIA MOGELONSKY FOOD INDUSTRY ANALYST
WNEW YORK ill Papa has one of the hardest jobs in the food industry: getting Americans to chew more gum.
So challenged is the category — U.S. sales have fallen 15 per cent to $3.5 billion US since 2009 — Hershey Co.’s research chief isn’t even calling his latest product gum. Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews, which dissolve in a burst of mint after about 10 chomps, straddle the sweet spot between mints (which are still selling well) and gum (which isn’t).
“It’s a classic example of innovating at the seams between two categories,” said Papa, who learned the art of product mashups at Procter & Gamble Co. “You have to be on the lookout for that unmet need.”
Papa has high hopes for Cool Blasts Chews, which went on sale this month. But competition is fierce, as start-ups and entrenched players alike rush out new flavours and packaging.
Wrigley Co. got some traction with an Orbit gum pack designed to fit snugly into a car cupholder. In an effort to attract health-conscious consumers, the industry is selling all-natural varieties, including Glee Gum’s aspartame-free product in recyclable pouches. Trident created a limited-edition pumpkin spice gum; Wrigley a “dessert delights” line that has included such flavours as Root Beer Float and Peach Cobbler.
So far, the rush to reinvent gum hasn’t made much difference. Last year, Americans chewed gum 1.4 times a week on average, down 30 per cent from 2009, according to NPD. Aging boomers are giving up the habit because their dental work isn’t up to the challenge. Many millennials never developed a taste for gum. Fewer Americans are smoking so there’s less demand for gum to cover tobacco breath.
“You can hear the wailing from the manufacturers,” said Marcia Mogelonsky, who analyzes the food industry for market researcher Mintel. “Gum is stuck.”
There’s one bright spot: China, where gum sales almost doubled to $3 billion from 2009 to 2014 and are projected to grow an average of six per cent through 2018, according to Euromonitor. The market researcher also reported that gum consumption has been stable and value sales rose by three per cent last year.
But the food companies can’t turn their backs on the U.S., where they still generate a substantial portion of revenue.
When Papa arrived at Hershey in 2012, he was handed a long list of product ideas and was told to find something with lasting appeal. Like many people, Papa had given up on gum because he was sick of having to find a place to discard the chewed wad. Then he was shown a prototype for Cool Blasts Chews.
In his 30 years at P&G, Papa learned to search for what R&D types call unarticulated niches — stuff people don’t know they want. Sometimes that meant combining two products into one. P&G’s Pert Plus, introduced in 1987, put shampoo and conditioner in one bottle. It sold briskly in its day. Cool Blasts Chews would combine mints and gum in one package.
The product required a strong minty flavour, enough texture to ensure about 10 chomps and the chemistry to dissolve on the tongue. In tests, Papa observed consumers trying the chews, all the while watching to see if people took the chew out of their mouth and stuck it under a table. No one did. Once the recipe had been perfected, Hershey created a production process to make the gum-mint mash-up at a factory in Memphis, Tenn.
Nicholas Fereday, a food analyst at Rabobank, said it’s risky “trying to please everyone when you go for the middle ground,” but that convenience and novelty could attract consumers. Hershey is positioning Cool Blasts Chews as a kind of stealth breath freshener that can be used “discretely before and during any social interaction.”
Gum makers didn’t always have to try so hard. The original product was pretty basic: synthetic rubber, sweetener and flavouring. In the late 1800s, William Wrigley Jr. gave away sticks of gum to help sell soap and other products, according to Jennifer Mathews, a Trinity University professor who wrote a history of gum. Eventually, he realized the gum was more popular and introduced Juicy Fruit and Spearmint in 1893. In 1915, Wrigley mailed packs to the 1.5 million American households listed in the phone book. Four years later, he erected billboards shaped like gum wrappers on the train route from Trenton, N.J. to Atlantic City.
The industry kept sales growing for the next half-century by positioning gum as fun. In the late 1970s, Adams, a candy company founded in the 19th century, debuted Freshen Up. It delivered a burst of liquid flavour and inspired a ribald nickname.
Wrigley introduced its first bubble gum, Hubba Bubba, in 1979. Big League Chew arrived a year later, shredded gum in a aluminum foil pouch that gave Little Leaguers a tobacco-free entry to the rituals of their favourite players.
Food companies also made health claims for gum. For years, Trident’s slogan was: “Four out of five dentists surveyed recommend sugarless gums for their patients who chew gum.” Wrigley and Cadbury promoted several sugarless brands.
Now Wrigley is getting back to basics after spending too long emphasizing “functional benefits” such as fresh breath, said John Starkey, the company’s vice-president of U.S. gum and mints. “There are emotional reasons that people chew gum — in particular fun,” he said.