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| Product type | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Hershey Company (2000–) |
| Produced by | Hershey Company |
| Country | United States |
| Related brands | |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Previous owners | Nabisco (1996–2000) [1] |
| Tagline |
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| Website | ice-breakers |
Ice Breakers is a brand of mints and chewing gum owned by The Hershey Company.
Its line of soft, cube-shaped gum is branded as Ice Cubes. [2]
Ice Breakers was launched in the 1990s [3] by Nabisco Holding's LifeSaver division in order to compete with similar mint brands. [4] [5] Hershey purchased Ice Breakers from Nabisco in 2000 for $135 million in a deal that also included mint and chewing gum brands like Bubble Yum, Breath Savers, CareFree and Stickfree. [6] Ice Breakers began showing growth following the acquisition by Hershey. [7]
In 2006, it was reported that Hershey had the third largest share of the chewing-gum market and it viewed Ice Breakers as a means of expanding its share. [8] As of 2014, it was reported that overall chewing-gum sales were in decline. It was thought by some economy experts to be due to the economy at the time and a larger variety of choices outside of chewing gum. [9] In 2016, it was reported that Ice Breaker's sales of its Ice Cubes product had increased from 2015. [10]
Ice Breakers manufactures and sells mint and chewing gum products including cool mints, peppermint chews and soft, cube-shaped gum branded as Ice Cubes. [2] In 2003, Ice Breakers launched Liquid Ice, a liquid filled mint. An advertising and PR campaign that centered around Jessica Simpson was also launched to promote the product. [11] In 2004, the company released its dual-pack gum and mints. Later that year, Ice Breakers signed Hilary and Haylie Duff as the brand's spokeswomen. [11]
In April 2018, Ice Breakers launched an edible glitter-sprinkled gum that they hoped would appeal to Millennials. [12] [13]
The company has also sponsored athletes including NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick [14] and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA). [15]
Ice Breakers Frost mints were discontinued in September 2022. [16]
In 2007, Hershey released Ice Breakers PACS, wherein a powdery mint mixture was encased by two blue dissolving layers. It received national attention for its resemblance to street narcotics. [17] Hershey denied the resemblance, but pulled the product out of the market shortly thereafter. [18]
Ice Breakers gum was banned in the Kuwaiti market due to containing pig gelatin. [19]
Altoids are a brand of mints, sold primarily in distinctive metal tins. The brand was created by the London-based Smith & Company in the 1780s, and became part of the Callard & Bowser company in the 19th century. Their advertising slogan is "The Original Celebrated Curiously Strong Mints", referring to the high concentration of peppermint oil used in the original flavour lozenge. The mints were originally conceived as a lozenge intended to relieve intestinal discomfort.
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, known as the Wrigley Company, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois.
York Peppermint Pattie is an American dark chocolate enrobed peppermint confection introduced in 1940 and currently produced by the Hershey Company.
Mentos are a brand of packaged scotch mints or mint-flavored candies sold in many stores and vending machines. First produced in 1932, they are currently sold in more than 130 countries worldwide by the Italian-Dutch corporation Perfetti Van Melle. The mints are small oblate spheroids, with a slightly hard exterior and a soft, chewy interior.
Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped hard and soft candy. Its range of mints and fruit-flavored candies is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in paper-wrapped aluminum foil rolls.
Bubble Yum is a brand of bubble gum marketed by The Hershey Company. It was first introduced in 1975 by Life Savers.
Jolly Rancher is an American brand of sweet hard candy, gummies, jelly beans, lollipops, sour bites, and a line of soda put out by Elizabeth Beverage Company in 2004. Originally created in Colorado in the 1950s, the Jolly Rancher brand has been owned by The Hershey Company since 1996.
Junior Mints are a candy brand consisting of small rounds of mint filling inside a semi-sweet chocolate coating, with a dimple on one side. The mints are produced by Tootsie Roll Industries, and packaged in varying amounts from the so-called 'fun-size box' to the much larger 12 oz. box.
Eclipse is a brand of chewing gum and breath mint, first introduced in the U.S. by the Wrigley Company in 1999 as its first entrant into the U.S. pellet gum segment. It was modeled after Excel in Canada, which was launched in 1991.
Fruit Stripe was an artificially and naturally flavored fruit chewing gum produced by Beech-Nut in 1960 and discontinued in 2024. The individual pieces of gum were striped and were packaged in zebra-striped wrappers, which also acted as temporary tattoos.
Lotte Wellfood Co., Ltd., formerly Lotte Confectionery, is a South Korean international confectionery company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The company was established in 1967. Currently, it is the third-largest chewing gum manufacturer in the world, and its plants are located in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Belgium, India, Russia, Myanmar, and China. Lotte Confectionery was renamed Lotte Wellfood in 2023, after being merged with Lotte Foods in 2022.
Leaf International BV was a confectionery company founded in the 1940s. Leaf had sales of approximately €527m (2010) and 2,400 employees. It had 11 factories in seven countries. Leaf was owned by CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital, and management. Bengt Baron was the CEO of Leaf.
Two multi-national companies, Wrigley and Cadbury, together account for some 60% market share of the worldwide chewing gum market. The global market shares for the top five chewing gum companies are estimated to be:
Breath Savers is a brand of mint manufactured by the Hershey Company.
Stride is a brand of sugar-free chewing gum currently owned by Perfetti Van Melle, sold in packs of 14 pieces. It was introduced in May 2005. In 2019, Mondeléz International, the parent company of Stride gum, discontinued sales in the United States, Canada, and Europe to focus on other confections. It sold its chewing gum brands to Perfetti Van Melle in 2023.
Gummies, gummi candies, gummy candies, or jelly sweets are a broad category of gelatin-based chewable sweets. Gummy bears, Sour Patch Kids, and Jelly Babies are widely popular and are a well-known part of the sweets industry. Gummies are available in a wide variety of shapes, most commonly seen as colorful depictions of living things such as bears, babies, or worms. Various brands such as Bassett's, Haribo, Albanese, Betty Crocker, Hersheys, Disney and Kellogg's manufacture various forms of gummy snacks, often targeted at young children. The name "gummi" originated in Germany, with the terms "jelly sweets" or "gums" more common in the United Kingdom.
PUR Gum is a brand of aspartame-free gum produced by The PUR Company Inc. and founded in 2010 by Jay Klein in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. PUR gum and mints are manufactured in Switzerland, distributed in Canada, and sold in over 25 countries worldwide. PUR gum and mints are also sold through online outlets such as Amazon. The PUR Company Inc. uses the slogan "Kick Aspartame" to promote their sugar-free and aspartame-free products.
Michele Buck is an American businesswoman. In March 2017, she became the first female Chairman, President, and CEO of The Hershey Company, an American food manufacturing company, replacing former CEO John Bilbrey.
| Hershey Company |
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| Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company |
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| Milton Hershey Foundation | |||||||||||
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