Ferrara announced this week that it is discontinuing its Fruit Stripe chewing gum brand. The news was first posted on OldTimeCandy.com and Food & Wine, with other major news outlets following suit.
The gum was first introduced in 1961 by Beech-Nut Confection Division. Its distinctive packaging caught the eye of many consumers, as the gum sticks were wrapped in zebra-striped wrappers. The gum's mascot, Yipes, inspired its "Yipes! Stripes!" slogan.
The gum brand toted its "quick flavor burst" of multiple fruit flavors, although consumers also criticized that the flavor faded quickly compared to other gum.
The brand passed hands through Nabisco, Hershey, and Farley's and Sathers Candy Company, through mergers and acquisitons. Farley's and Sathers eventually joined Ferrara Pan Company to create Ferrara Candy Company.
"We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe Gum for now, but consumers may still be able to find product at select retailers nationwide," Ferrara told Candy Industry, in a statement.
"The decision to sunset this product was not taken lightly, and we considered many factors before coming to this decision, including consumer preferences, and purchasing patterns – and overall brand trends for Fruit Stripe Gum."
"We are delighted to continue offering many other beloved and iconic brands in our portfolio, including Fun Dip, Gobstopper, Jujyfruits, Fire Ball, Pixy Stix, Chuckles, Runts, Spree, Boston Baked Beans, and Bottle Caps. We recently launched our e-commerce site on Amazon.com where consumers can find, order, and enjoy some of these iconic brands," Ferrara said.
Ferrara’s portfolio also includes some Nerds, Trolli, Brach's, Laffy Taffy, Black Forest, Now & Later, and more. The full portfolio lineup can be found here.
Eagle-eyed Redditors in r/Nostalgia first spotted Fruit Stripe disappearing from shelves about seven days ago, and deduced that the company may be discontinuing it, quoting the OldTimeCandy.com article referenced above. On January 5, X (formerly Twitter) user @Snack_Memories also posted a farewell ode to the brand.
X user @collectingcandy recently posted pictures of the original Fruit Stripe packaging, as well, which you can see above.
The brand's spirit and zaniness can be captured in this 1991 Fruit Stripes commercial below.
Ferrara, a division of Ferrero Group, is on the current Candy Industry “Global Top 100 Candy Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Global Top 100” rankings.
