Functional Candy

Wrigley, Cadbury, Hershey's Sweet on Functional Candy

May 25, 2008

By Mike Beirne

Functional candy is making a comeback. But unlike previous years, when marketers stretched benefit claims too far, the newest batch of sweets better matches consumer expectations.

Wrigley will hit shelves this summer with Eclipse gum and mints containing magnolia bark extract, a natural bacteria-killing ingredient intended to not just mask bad breath but eliminate causes. MBE gum will come in Spearmint, Winterfrost, Polar Ice, Peppermint and Fresh & Cool; MBE mints will be available in four flavors.

Cadbury Adams spices things up with Trident Xtra Care, which contains Recaldent, a tooth enamel-building ingredient derived from calcium. Advances in flavor and manufacturing technology have enabled the company to double the Recaldent dosage now found in Trident White so that the ingredient stays on teeth longer.

An integrated marketing effort this summer, via JWT, New York, will point out its benefits and could include a tag trademarked by the company, "Demand more for your smile." That campaign could see the most overt mention of "clinically proven" benefits consumers will see in candy this year.

Hershey touts its new Ice Cube White chewing gum as being able to produce sparkling teeth as well as its breath-freshening efficacy. The soft gum product is Hershey's answer to Wrigley's Orbit White and Cadbury's Trident White, both of which are hard shell pellets.

Other companies are also playing the functional card. Bee M.D. throat drops, from BestSweet, Mooresville, N.C., have 40% honey, versus the 1-10% honey other lozenges list as an ingredient. Print breaks this fall; a portion of sales will fund research to protect the honeybee population.

These products arrive at a time when sales in the functional candy category are on an upswing. According to confection market research firm Vreeland and Associates, Harrisburg, Pa., sales of functional confections increased 1.8% to $1.5 billion in 2006, which reversed a 6.7% decline in 2005.

mbeirne@brandweek.com