Wrigley UK merges Orbit into Extra range
Extra is the UK’s top selling gum brand and Wrigley said it could help to leverage the Orbit range.
Into Orbit
“Bringing Orbit under the Extra umbrella and strengthening our soft-chew offering will pave the way for even further growth,” said Sue Cobbledick, Wrigley Oral Care marketing manager.
“The trend towards oral care shows no signs of slowing, as chewers seek out a healthy addition to their day-to-day oral care routine. By bolstering the Extra brand with these new variants we expect to capitalize on this trend and attract new chewers to the category, helping retailers drive sales.”
Wrigley will launch Extra branded packs for Orbit peppermint and spearmint flavors.
Soft chews
The Mars subsidiary will also two add soft-chew options to the Extra range in strawberry and bubblegum flavors aimed at bringing new younger chewers to the category. The soft-chew launch will be supported by a 16-week long television advertising campaign.
Wrigley UK has dedicated £15m ($24m) in marketing support for the Extra brand in 2015.
UK gum market
Value sales for the Wrigley gum brand amounted to £278m ($437m) for the 52 weeks ending 16 August 2014, up 3.2% compared to the same period last year, according to data from IRI.
The overall UK gum market grew 1.5% over the period to £304m ($478m). The second bestselling gum brand was Perfetti Van Melle’s Mentos with value sales of £8m ($13m), down 9.2% on the same period last year.
