Mars, Mondelēz, and Hershey are the leading marketers of gum.
January 2, 2019
Market research firm Packaged Facts estimates chewing gum sales comprise 11 percent of the total U.S. retail candy market, which also includes chocolate and non-chocolate candy products.
As shopping continues to evolve, Mars Wrigley Confectionery has found nontraditional retail outlets for its products, calling the new program “Emerging Impulse Platforms.”
American soldiers used chewing gum to quench thirst and reserve water supplies in World War I, but as its popularity spread through Europe, so did aversion to it. Among its detractors was Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Contributor Curtis Vreeland tells the story in an excerpt from "Candy Goes to War."