Good News for Custodians Everywhere: Gum is Losing Its Popularity with Teens

Tired of scraping the sticky stuff off desks, shoes, and water fountains? According to a report in Crain's Chicago Business, gum no longer has a hold on teen tastes, despite experiments with wild flavor combinations and smaller, less expensive packages. Apparently, with the cost of a pack of chewing gum hovering close to $2.00, teens are choosing other snacks to get them through the day.
Tired of scraping the sticky stuff off desks, shoes, and water fountains? According to a report in Crain's Chicago Business, gum no longer has a hold on teen tastes, despite experiments with wild flavor combinations and smaller, less expensive packages. Apparently, with the cost of a pack of chewing gum hovering close to $2.00, teens are choosing other snacks to get them through the day. Chewing GumMatthew Hudak, a U.S. packaged goods analyst in Euromonitor International's Chicago office says that Millennials, roughly defined as those age 13 to 35, “simply aren't interested and instead are doing different things. Older consumers don't tend to chew it as much and use mints for breath-freshening.” This trend runs contrary to a 2012 article in USA Today that alleged that teens are using gum as a "fashion accessory." Here's to hoping that fewer books are coming back to the library with sticks of gum used as bookmarks!

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