A brand of chewing gum that has been on the market for over 50 years is no longer available. Ferrara Candy recently announced that Fruit Stripe Gum would be discontinued as part of the company’s product lineup, according to Food & Wine.
“We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe Gum,” the company revealed in a statement to the publication. It should be noted that the firm stated that “consumers may still be able to find the product at select retailers nationwide,” but did not specify which retailers had the remaining stock.
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Moreover, the company told Food & Wine, “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.”
OldTimeCandy.com first revealed the news that the chewing gum would be removed from the market. “We are sad to announce that Fruit Stripe Gum has been discontinued by the manufacturer. We are disappointed too,” the website wrote in a statement.
In the subreddit r/nostalgia, some Reddit community members took the opportunity to voice their thoughts regarding the discontinuation of the gum online. “RIP Fruit Stripe Gum. Despite the truth behind the memes of it lasting a brief time, the flavor for that brief time is unmatched in the chewing gum world. You shall be missed,” wrote one user. A similar sentiment was expressed by another user, who wrote, “A piece of my childhood just died.” Another Redditor said that they even spoke to a Ferrara customer service representative before learning that the candy would be retired.
Fruit Stripe was invented by James Parker during the late 1960s, according to Ferrara. After being manufactured and sold by Beech-Nut Confection Division for many years, ownership passed over in a variety of mergers and acquisitions to Nabisco, Hershey, Farley’s & Sathers Candy Company, which eventually merged with Ferrara Pan Candy to form Ferrara Candy Company.
Greg Guidotti, the General Manager of the Sugar Portfolio at Ferrara Candy Company, told Food Business News late in 2021 that sales of Fruit Stripe gum had increased 4.5% from the previous year. The company was also introducing Fruit Stripe gummy candies at the time, and unfortunately, they appear to have also been discontinued.
In later years, a zebra mascot named Yipes was introduced, and the slogan “Yipes! Stripes!” was created, according to Food & Wine. Yipes also appeared in a Jeopardy! question in 2016, in which contestants were asked what kind of animal he was.
In the summer of 2022, Klondike’s Choco Taco was discontinued after almost 40, causing a similar dissatisfaction among fans of the ice cream sweet treat.
