Fans of Fruit Stripe, a beloved chewing gum, scramble to buy it before it is all gone
The first clue, candy purveyors said, was months ago when they couldn’t get enough Fruit Stripe Gum to sell.
This week, news outlets began reporting that the brightly colored sticks with the mouth-watering flavors and the zany Zebra named Yipes that pitched it, was no more, "gone forever." Whether Fruit Stripe really will be gone for good is unclear, with other discontinued brands making a comeback.
Fruit Stripe's maker, Ferrara Candy, told Food & Wine the chewing gum would be discontinued.
"We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe Gum," the magazine reported the company announced. But there is some hope for those who couldn’t live without it: "Consumers may still be able to find the product at select retailers nationwide."
As the news spread online, Fruit Stripe fans began lamenting losing their favorite candy.
"I liked it when I was a kid," David Sklena, the 50-something owner of Doc Sweets’ Candy Co. in Clawson, told the Free Press. He said he used to sell the gum until it became impossible to find, and that’s usually a sign something is going to happen to a brand. "There wasn’t a lot of information available to us."
Some fans took to the internet to seek online sources to see whether they could stockpile it before it completely disappeared.
More: Michigan-based teaberry gum maker in unusual trademark dispute over vintage flavor
A People magazine’s headline even highlighted gum lovers’ sentiment on the announcement: "A Piece of My Childhood Just Died," with fans crying out in chat groups about how, as kids, the gum — when they bit into the sticks — gave them a rush from a sweet, but brief, burst of flavor that was released.
Sklena, who opened the Clawson candy store in 2013, said that candy brands become so dear to people because they associate it with moments and memories growing up and it “puts them in a good mood.” He remembers Fruit Stripe well.
Fruit Stripe was, he added, one of the "more fun" gums, before the soft and fruity flavored bubble gums like Bubblicious and Hubba Bubba, hit the market. Beech-Nut came out with Fruit Stripe in 1969. The sticks were striped.
Over the years, the gum changed hands, flavors, and marketing tactics, eventually ending up in the hands of Ferrara.
Still, Sklena is holding onto the idea the gum isn't gone forever.
Often, he said, market demands and business hubris, when another company acquires the recipe or rights to the candy and thinks it can make another go of the selling it, leads to beloved, and longtime brands being reintroduced in the future.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fruit Stripe Gum fanatics scramble to buy it after discontinuation
