Candy companies want to get Americans back into chewing gum, a once popular trend bucked by the COVID pandemic and surging inflation, but one executive’s new epiphany hopes to change the game. Alyona Fedorchenko, global vice president for gum and mints at Mars Inc., said her company has been looking into ways to get consumers to start wanting to chew gum again when she had an 'aha moment,' The Associated Press reported.
Fedorchenko told the outlet that she remembered talking to a nurse a few years ago who chewed gum to calm herself down during the COVID pandemic. The real-life interaction was supported by some of Mars’ own studies that showed consumers choose to chew gum to relieve stress or boost concentration. 'That, for us, was the big ‘Aha!’' Fedorchenko told the outlet. 'We’ve had a century of legacy of fresh breath, and that is still very important. Don’t get me wrong. But there is so much more this category can be.' Fedorchenko said Mars, which owns Wrigley, is hoping to attract 10 million new U.S. chewers by 203