A Favorite Candy Of Childhood Is No More
We’ve all had the experience of talking about something with friends and soon discovering our phones are paying WAYYY to close attention to us. For example, a co-worker told us about going to the upcoming outdoor hockey game Saturday at Truist Field. I told her of my work over the years with The Charlotte Checkers as a parttime public address announcer. The next thing I know? Both my Facebook and Instagram feeds are bombarded with Charlotte Checker and Carolina Hurricane ticket and merchandise offers.
This is a little creepier than that, though. I can’t even remember how it come up, but somehow on Sunday the subject of Fruit Stripe chewing gum was brought up by my wife. We both remarked how much we loved it as children. In fact, it was my go-to when it came to begging and pleading for candy when at the grocery story with my mom as a child. Each piece was visually a different colored stripe (and therefore, flavor). Shoot, the zebra like wrappers could even be used as temporary tattoos. Now honestly, as gum goes, Fruit Stripe was not all that good. The flavor only lasted for a couple of minutes and the consistency didn’t last much longer. However, to a kid in the 1970s and 1980s, that didn’t matter. It was bright, colorful and fun.
Less than a week after that conversation, Fruit Stripe gum has been discontinued after 54 years. The news was confirmed in a statement from the gum’s parent company, Ferrara Candy Company. A rep for the company said in a statement, “We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe Gum, but consumers may still be able to find product at select retailers nationwide.” The statement continued, “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.”
I probably haven’t had a piece of Fruit Stripe gum in 20-30 years, but I’ll miss it.
This Retro Candy Rank's as North Carolina's No. 1 Choice
