The emergence of Trident caused a sticky situation in gum, but giant Wrigley is holding its own at the top
?Globally, ?chewing gum is the fastest-growing sector within confectionery. However, ?until January 2007, ?gum sales in the UK had been in decline for two years. Recent innovations from Wrigley and the launch of Trident from Cadbury Trebor Bassett (CTB) look to have reversed that trend, ?with sales up 19% in the past six months [ACNielsen, ?May 07].
CTB promised to bring £100m worth of growth to the UK gum category when it launched Trident in January 2007. With explosive growth in the first four months of sale, projections indicate it will be half way to reaching this target within the first year of launch. "After only six weeks on sale Trident became the number two gum brand in the UK and already has a 10.2% share of gum sales in independents [ACNielsen]," says Kate Harding, acting head of customer relations for CTB.
"The number of British consumers trialling Trident and repeating their purchases is rising every month, showing there is still plenty of potential to keep driving the growth of the UK gum market." To ensure that this continues the brand is being supported by a £10m marketing campaign.
It will, however, have some stiff competition. Wrigley's Extra is the number one sugar confectionery brand in the UK and is currently worth over £176m. Alex MacHutchon, communications manager at Wrigley, says: "Extra chewing gum sales alone are worth £166m, and the brand is regularly chewed by 11 million people every year."
Innovation is vital to any category, but particularly in confectionery. The Wrigley Company has a strong track record, with a third of sales coming from products introduced in the past five years. Its most significant recent innovation is the launch of Extra Fusion.
Research reveals that chewing gum is three times more likely to be bought on impulse than other confectionery or snack foods.
"Typically consumers will take no more than eight seconds to make their gum purchase, which is why the positioning of the product within the store is critical," says MacHutchon.
"But not only is chewing gum important for impulse sales, it is also important for profits."
Has the number of customer complaints about the price of goods increased recently?
