NEW YORK - The gum industry is finding itself in a "sticky spot," writes the Wall Street Journal, noting that after at least seven years of growth, U.S. gum sales began declining in mid-2010, with 2011 sales down 2.7% to $3.5 billion.
"We've made shopping for gum very complicated," Casey Keller, president of the North America division of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., told the newspaper. "On average we have 50 different varieties of gum in a convenience store, and that's just Wrigley."
To get their chewers back, gum makers are looking at new places to sell product in addition to c-stores and grocery stores, and new packaging options. They??re also researching the stimulating effects that gum chewing can have on concentration, which can help consumers focus more on a specific activity.
The newspaper writes that several years ago, Wrigley and The Princeton Review surveyed American and Canadian college students about their study habits. Of the students who chew gum while studying for exams, 41% do so to combat stress while 23% do so to increase concentration.
Wrigley is also trying to place more gum in different retail environments, such as a Subway restaurant in Chicago. "It exceeded our expectations," Keller said, adding tests with other retailers are promising.
Mondelez International Inc., the spinoff from Kraft Foods Inc. and maker of Trident, Stride and Chiclets, is hoping that more teens will chew gum. In August 2012, the company introduced ID by Stride, which is geared toward teens, that features graphics commissioned from young artists around the world as well as information that unlocks online videogames on each pack. The newspaper adds that each piece of gum is imprinted with a different flavor swirl so that no two pieces are identical.
Executives told investors in November that the new brand is performing well, but it??s too early to be deemed a success. "To be frank, gum has been disappointing for quite some time and it is taking us longer to change the trajectory than we anticipated," said CEO Irene Rosenfeld.