CHICAGO -- The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. is giving its Extra and Wrigley's brands—Juicy Fruit, Doublemint, Big Red, Winterfresh and Wrigley's Spearmint—a new look with the introduction of Slim Pack, a sleek, 15-stick envelope package that is more durable and portable for today's consumers. The new packaging is coupled with significant flavor improvements across both brands, the company said.
"We are bringing news and excitement to the Wrigley's traditional brands and Extra—a portfolio that represents 30% of our overall gum business in the U.S.," said Bill Perez, president and [image-nocss] CEO, at Wrigley's annual stockholders' meeting Wednesday in Chicago. "We've reformulated these brands to improve taste and flavor duration, and we are introducing new, category-changing packaging that has been two years in the making. This cool new pack will make these brands more contemporary and give them a great presence on the shelf."
Slim Pack is similar to the 5 gum pack introduced in 2007 and is the latest in a series of Wrigley packaging innovations that include the Orbit tab envelope and Big-E-Pak 60-pellet bottle.
The Chicago-based company also emphasized the importance of the rapidly growing fruit-flavored gum segment and announced it will launch a new Extra line, called Extra Fruit Sensations, along with three new Orbit fruit varieties. "Fruit flavors have been a key contributor to gum growth," said Paul Chibe, Wrigley's vice president of North American gum marketing.
Extra Fruit Sensations will offer four flavors—Strawberry Banana, Berry Pearadise, Island Cooler and Sweet Watermelon—and will come in the new Slim Pack. Within the fruit category, Orbit will introduce Sangria Fresca and Fabulous Fruitini, while Orbit White will introduce Fruit Sorbet.
The new and improved Extra, Extra Fruit Sensations and Wrigley's brands will start appearing on store shelves in May. The new Orbit and Orbit White flavors will be available nationally in July.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.