In this article, we take a look at the 10 biggest chewing gum companies in the world.
The global chewing gum market had a market size of $26 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow with a CAGR of 3% during the period 2022-2027, per the IMARC market research.
North America has both the biggest producer and consumer share of the gum industry at $5 billion as of 2019 and this share is projected to have a compounding annual growth of $7 billion for the 2022-2027 period.
Chewing Gum Sub-Industries
Different sub-industries within the larger gum industry however, have different dynamics. For instance, Research and Markets reported that nicotine gum saw a surge in demand during the pandemic presumably because of covid health risk to smokers. Fortune Business Insights valued the nicotine gum sub-industry at $1.49 billion in 2021. Their report projected its growth at a CAGR of 4.8% for the period 2022-2029, which would translate to a gain in share of over half a billion dollars.
The Research and Markets report further went on to say that sugary chewing gums are seeing a relative decline in demand which is being offset by healthier sugar-free gums. Mordor Intelligence forecasts a CAGR of 7.3% for the sugar-free chewing gum sub-industry for the 2022-2027 period, with Europe being its largest market and Asia-Pacific being the fastest growing market.
Overall, functional chewing gums — gums that serve a beneficial purpose — are rising higher in demand than non-functional gums as consumers become more health-conscious. The tooth-whitening gum industry holds more than 50% share of the functional gum market according to the Research and Markets report.
Key Players
Most prominent corporations in the market include Wrigley Company, owned by Mars, Incorporated, Cadbury, owned by Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) and Lotte. Wrigley Company and Cadbury alone account for 60% of the global chewing gum market.
Some of the most popular chewing gums made by Wrigley Company and Mondelez-International-owned Cadbury include DoubleMint and Trident, respectively. In fact, DoubleMint has been the best-selling chewing gum in the world per Statista, with almost $100 million in sales for 2019.
These gum brands are easily available across the world in many flavors. Some of the most prominent platforms and stores where people can get their hands on these chewing gums include Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST).
Photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash
Our Methodology
For our list of the 10 biggest chewing gum companies in the world, we’d be looking at their most recent revenues as the ranking metric. We’d also be discussing the scale of the companies in terms of their number of employees and presence across the world.
10. Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR)
Annual Revenue: $570 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 10
Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR) is an American confectionery company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It manufactures candy, chewing gum and other edible items. Some prominent products in its catalog include Tootsie Roll, Tootsie Pop, Dubble Bubble, Charleston Chew, Sugar Daddy and Junior Mints.
The Dubble Bubble happens to be their signature chewing gum and currently has three variants: Raspberry flavored Snowballs, Dugout Gum Pouch and Bear shaped ‘Bearables’.
Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR) employs over 2,000 people as of 2021 and had a revenue of $570 million for the same year. It operates all across North America and has distribution channels in more than 75 countries on top of that.
The company made $211 million in sales in Q3, 2022 which were up from $183 million it made in the same quarter of the previous year. The increase in sales was attributed to growing post-pandemic demand recovery and “effective” pre-Halloween sales program.
Addressing the issue of price increase for Tootsie products, Ellen Gordon, the CEO of Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR), said that the prices had to be raised throughout 2021-2022 to compensate for the growing economic stagflation.
She also lamented that the increase in sales was offset for the most part by “significantly” high input costs due to growing prices of ingredients, packaging material and freight in the face of growing energy cost, commodity shortage and supply chain issues.
As of the third quarter of 2022, 10 hedge funds own a total equity of $21 million in Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR). Renaissance Technologies alone accounts for $14 million worth of stock and is its leading shareholder.
9. Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:2206.T)
Annual Revenue: $2.42 billion
Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. (2206.T), or simply Glico, is a Japanese multinational food manufacturer based in Osaka. Its brands of chewing gums include names like POs-Ca and KissMint. The former is a functional gum containing a Calcium salt of Phosphoryl Oligosaccharides, which is shown to aid in remineralization of enamel subsurface lesions.
Glico’s POs-Ca comes in three flavors; mint, lychee chamomile and grape. The company has also pioneered a number of environmentally-friendly ways to package gum. An example is its ‘Smart Pod’ which in addition to the chewing gums, contains a compartment in the lid where disposable papers are placed to be used for wrapping the chewed gum for disposal.
Coming to the company’s scale, Glico has a vast empire. It sells its products in over 30 countries and operates in more than 12, including in regions like North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. As of 2021, the company employs over 5,000 people globally.
8. Perfetti Van Melle
Annual Revenue: $2.56 billion
Perfetti Van Melle is an Italian-Dutch chewing gum and candy company based in Italy and the Netherlands. Perfetti Van Melle is the result of a merger between Italian company Perfetti and Van Melle from the Netherlands. It is known for its Iconic ‘Mentos’ brand of candies and gums.
The global Mentos brand constitutes a variety of chewing gums with unique flavors like watermelon, spearmint, grape and cinnamon among others. Mentos also comes with functional sugar-free chewing gums for health-conscious consumers. The company sells many other regional brands of gum as well.
Perfetti Van Melle is one of the largest confectionery companies in the world with sales in over 150 countries. Perfetti Van Melle has 36 operating companies and 31 manufacturing facilities around the world. It employs close to 18,000 people as of 2022.
The company had generated $2.56 billion in net sales in 2021 with chewing gums accounting for 33% of its revenue. Its largest share of sales came from the region of Asia & Oceania at 39%, followed by the EU at 31%.
7. Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:2269.T)
Annual Revenue: $8.49 billion
Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:2269.T) is another Japanese multinational food conglomerate. It was founded in 1906 and owns some of the biggest confectionery manufacturers and chewing gum companies in the world as of 2022.
Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:2269.T) operates 32 companies around the globe and employs close to 18,000 people. It has three companies in the US, employing over 600 people. By far, its largest presence is in the Asia-Pacific region where it operates 25 companies.
It generated $8.49 billion in net sales in the fiscal year 2021. The company’s vision is to expand maximally in the foreign markets and to that effect in the period of 2020-21, it constructed a manufacturing plant in China to scale the sales of its SAVAS products in the Chinese market and further expanded in Europe through its partnership with Danone S.A. (PARIS:BN.PA).
When it comes to chewing gums, Meiji manufactures and sells a diverse range of brands through its various subsidiaries. These gums include Beware Three, Gabriele Chu Ramune, the Xylitol containing brand named Xylish. These come in different flavors. For instance, its Xylish brand alone constitutes flavors like grape, lemon, mint, muscat, blueberry and barbados cherry to name a few.
6. Lotte Corporation (KSE:004990.KS)
Annual Revenue: $8.63 billion
Lotte Corporation (KSE:004990.KS) is one of the biggest conglomerates in South Korea. It is involved in a diverse range of businesses including confectionery manufacturing, hotels, finance, chemicals, IT and entertainment among several others.
Lotte Corporation employs over 60,000 people and operates 90 business units worldwide. The company had an annual revenue of $8.6 billion for the year 2021.
It also owns several subsidiaries including Wedel, which it acquired from Kraft Foods in 2010. A significant chunk of Lotte’s business is concentrated in confectioneries, primarily including chewing gums, sold under the brand names of Fit’s, CoolMint, Green Gum and Spout among others.
If you wish to try Lotte gums, you can find their detailed product catalogs and reviews on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST).
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5. The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)
Annual Revenue: $8.9 billion
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is an American sweets maker based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1894 as Hershey Chocolate Company. It manufactures and sells items like chocolate, gums, candy and baked products. The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is one of the biggest chewing gum companies in the world as well.
Its main lines of chewing gums includes brands like Bubble Yum, Ice Breakers and Ice Cubes. All of these brands come in different flavors each, as well as with sugar-free versions. Overall, the company produces more than 90 brands of chocolate, candy and gum.
The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) sells its products across the US as well as in over 60 other countries around the world. It operates three large distribution centers that are equipped with modern labor management systems and employs around 19,000 people as of 2022.
As of the third quarter of 2022, 42 hedge funds own equity worth $1.58 billion in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY), with Renaissance Technologies being the leading holder with a stake worth a little over $670 million.
4. Yıldız Holding
Annual Revenue: $12 billion
Yıldız Holding is a Turkish food conglomerate that manufactures chewing gums and other confectioneries mostly through its British subsidiary Pladis Global. Its prominent chewing gum includes Ülker Oneo which sells around the world, especially across Europe. The conglomerate also manufactures Yıldız “stick” chewing gums through its daughter company Ülker. These come in flavors like strawberry and spearmint.
Yıldız Holding employs over 63000 people as of 2022 and operates 68 factories worldwide, 45 of which are based in Turkey. As of 2018, the company owned 164 different food production companies and had a consolidated revenue of $12 billion.
It also operates Eight Research & Development centers around the world, five of which are in Turkey. In terms of chewing gums, Pladis remains its most important holding.
3. Ferrero
Annual Revenue: $13 billion
Ferrero Group, also simply known as Ferrero, is an Italian confectionery and chocolate manufacturer based in Luxembourg. The company was founded in 1946 in Piedmont, Italy. Several of its brands are world renowned. One of them is Nutella, the iconic chocolate spread found in many households.
Its brand of hard mints and chewing gums, called the Tic Tac, is also equally popular around the world and comes in a variety of unique flavors and functional versions, including mouth freshening and sugar free gums. The flavors include watermelon, mint and blueberries among others.
Ferrero had an annual revenue of $13 billion in the fiscal year 2021. As per the latest figures from 2022, the company employs close to 39,000 people from around the world and sells its products in over 170 countries.
2. Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)
Annual Revenue: $28.7 billion
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52
Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) is one of the largest American confectionery and snack manufacturers. The company is based in Chicago and operates across the whole of the United States and Canada in addition to 160 other countries.
When it comes to chewing gums, it’s most famous for the brands Trident, Strident and Clorets, which also happen to be three of the most popular chewing gums across the world.
These are produced through the world renowned company called Cadbury, a subsidiary owned by Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) since 2010. Trident, Strident and Clorets come in various flavors as well as in healthier functional versions, like zero-sugar gums, teeth whiteners and mouth fresheners.
The flavors generally include peppermint and spearmint among others. Cadbury alone holds 26% global market share of the chewing gum industry, placing Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) second on the list of biggest chewing gum companies in the world.
Mondelez International had an annual revenue of $28.7 billion in the year 2021 with chewing gums as well as candy accounting for 10% of its global net sales. 29% of its revenue was generated from the North American region. As of Q3, 2022, 52 hedge funds hold a total equity worth $1.4 billion in the company.
1. Mars Wrigley
Annual Revenue: $45 billion
Mars Wrigley is an American confectionery manufacturer and the biggest chewing gum company in the world. It accounts for 35% of the entire chewing gum global market.
Its iconic DoubleMint, as we’ve already mentioned previously, was the 2019’s most popular chewing gum in the world, generating $100 million in sales. Its other chewing gum brands include Wrigley’s SpearMint, Winterfresh, BigRed and Orbit. The gums also come in functional versions like zero-sugar.
Mars Wrigley sells its product in over a whopping 180 countries. The company directly operates in more than 50 countries and has 21 production houses in 14 countries. In addition to the United States, some of the prominent of these countries include Russia, China, France and India. It made $45 billion in sales in the fiscal year 2021.
Mars Incorporated has well over 130,000 employees as of 2021 and its Wrigley subsidiary employs roughly 16,000 people out of those. The company has an optimistic outlook in leading the industry through innovation. In the summer of 2022, it announced an investment of $40 million for its new global R&D hub in Chicago, whose construction is set to be completed sometime in 2023.
You can also take a peek at Top 5 Chocolate Companies in the World and 5 Most Valuable Beverage Companies in the World.
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Disclosure: none. 10 Biggest Chewing Gum Companies in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey.
