Ferrara discontinues Fruit Stripe and Super Bubble gums

Dive Brief:

• Ferrara discontinued production of Fruit Stripe and Super Bubble gums after decades of production, the company said in a statement.  
• CBS said the company quietly halted production of the gum brands in 2022. Ferrara no longer produces any chewing gums.
• The decision to end production of Fruit Stripe Gum and Super Bubble comes as the gum category has seen demand decline for years.

Dive Insight:

After decades of production, changing consumer preferences have finally meant the end for two smaller niche brands. Super Bubble, touted by Ferrara as the original individually wrapped bubble gum, was first introduced in 1946 as Bub’s Daddy. Meanwhile, Fruit Stripe was created in the 1960s.

“We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe Gum and Super Bubble,” Brian Camen, a Ferrara spokesman, said in a statement to Food Dive. This “was not taken lightly, and we considered many factors before coming to this decision, including consumer preferences, and purchasing patterns — and overall brand trends.” 

Gum has been losing popularity now for several years. In 2011, 178 million Americans said they chewed gum, according to data from Statista. This year alone, 157 million people are expected to put a piece in their mouth.

It’s a big reason why Mondelēz International announced in late 2022 the sale of its developed-market gum business in the U.S., Canada and Europe to Perfetti Van Melle Group for $1.35 billion. Mondelēz will continue to operate its gum business outside these markets.

While many gum brands continue to generate meaningful cash for companies like Mars Wrigley, other firms, such as Mondelēz and now Ferrara, see more value in devoting finite resources to other parts of their businesses that are growing faster or where they have greater scale. 

For its part, Ferrara, whose portfolio includes Laffy Taffy, Red Hots and Brach’s, has been making changes to its portfolio. Last year, it purchased jelly bean maker Jelly Belly Candy for an undisclosed amount. And in 2021, Ferrara overhauled its fruit snacks business with a new brand, Funables, that uses higher quality ingredients and redesigned packaging to rejuvenate a category at the manufacturer that was tired and stagnant.