Like many of you, I too was disappointed that President Biden didn’t address the decline in American gum chewing during his State of the Union speech. For a minute I thought he actually might go there, once he started talking about half-filled snack bags and even name dropped Snickers. But no mention of gum. And so it falls to us to start this conversation on the pressing issue tearing our economy apart. The pandemic killed gum chewing, y’all! Who cares about bad breath when you’re social distancing and wearing masks?! And even though we’re (mainly) not doing that anymore, gum sales have not recovered. AP News spoke to gum industry insiders for insight on this developing crisis:
Bubbles bursting: The number of packages of gum sold dropped by nearly a third in the United States in 2020, according to Circana, a market research firm. Consumer demand has picked up only slightly since then. Last year, U.S. chewing gum sales rose less than 1% to 1.2 billion units, which was still 32% fewer than in 2018. Although sales in dollars are back to pre-pandemic levels, that’s mostly due to inflation; the average pack of gum cost $2.71 last year, $1.01 more than it did in 2018, Circana said.
Chewing gum relieves stress? Mars Inc., which owns the 133-year-old Wrigley brand, thinks it may have an answer: repositioning gum as an instant stress reliever rather than an occasional breath freshener. In January, the company launched a global ad campaign promoting its top-selling Orbit, Extra, Freedent and Yida brands as tools for mental well-being.
The ‘Aha!’ moment: Alyona Fedorchenko, vice president for global gum and mints in Mars’ snacking division, said the idea stuck in the summer of 2020, when the company was frantically researching ways to revive sales. Fedorchechenko remembered talking to a nurse in a hospital COVID-19 ward who chewed gum to calm herself even though she always wore a mask. The nurse’s habit meshed with studies by Mars that showed half of chewers reached for gum to relieve stress or boost concentration. “That, for us, was the big ‘Aha!’” Fedorchenko said. “We’ve had a century of legacy of fresh breath, and that is still very important. Don’t get me wrong. But there is so much more this category can be.” Emphasizing wellness is part of a multi-year effort to attract 10 million new U.S. chewers by 2030, she said.
Chewing leads to swallowing leads to bloating: But not everyone finds gum enhances well-being. Kylie Faildo, a pelvic floor physical therapist in Denver, thinks artificial sweeteners and swallowing air while chewing made her bloating symptoms worse. She gave up gum two years ago and doesn’t plan to go back, even though she misses the ease of popping a piece into her mouth before meeting a client. “I use mouthwash a lot more now,” Faildo said.
Time for innovation! Caron Proschan, the founder and CEO of the natural gum brand Simply, said she thinks U.S. gum sales slowed due to a shortage of innovation. Young customers have little disposable income and many distractions, she said, so gum needs to be compelling. Simply — which makes gum from a type of tree sap called chicle instead of synthetic ingredients — has seen its sales double every year since 2021 without raising prices, Proschan said. “Consumers today care about ingredients. They care about quality. The chewing gum category was not evolving to meet the needs of this consumer,” she said.
First of all, I hope Ms. Fedorchenko of Mars Inc. has business cards printed with her title of Vice President for Global Gum and Mints, Snacking Division. It’s such a fun title! But how do we feel about gum as a stress reliever? I get it, but personally I’ve always found that gum chewing just becomes nervous energy of a different kind. I’ll enjoy the initial burst of flavor (peppermint or spearmint, for me) and then will be chain-chewing to keep getting a fresh hit, and to keep the physical activity going. Basically, the tension just relocates to my jaw. And of all the things to spend money on, it’s hard to get jazzed about buying gum. Instead I took that money and purchased NUMBER REDACTED boxes of thin mint cookies from girl scouts selling their wares out in the rain, thankyouverymuch.
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