Is this the end of gum?

If you haven't been reaching for that stick of gum lately, apparently you're not alone. All right, experts say it started during the pandemic because of mask wearing, but as Fox 5's Stephanie Bertini shows us, while people have dropped the face coverings, they're not back chewing gum. I have a Costco pack of tried and gum at home. So you're a gum chewer? I am, I'm a huge gum chewer. According to some recent research, gum chewing or rather gum buying is down. I am not a gum chewer. And while some of you may have never really been into chewing gum, experts say the pandemic seems to have turned others away from it. During the pandemic, masks and social distancing made bad breath less of a concern. Plus, people spent less on impulse buys. The number of packages of gum sold dropped by nearly a third in the United States in 2020, according to market research firm, Surcana. Lynn Dornblazer is the director of innovation and insight at market research firm, Mintel. She's weighing in on the research. I think it's one of those things where consumers kept the change in behavior, not chewing gum, even once they took off the masks. So they got used to not chewing gum, having mints, doing other things, you know, that sort of thing. I've switched to mints now. Oh, you find them more effective? Yes. I think gum is good for me. It gets you focused. Whatever the reason consumers still buy gum, companies want to know. Typically marketed as a breath refresher, Mars Inc., the company that owns the Wrigley's brand, brought a new idea to the table, launching a global ad campaign in January, promoting its brands like Orbit, Extra, and Friedent as tools for mental well-being. I think marketing gum as a stress reliever is a really smart move on the part of gum companies because there's been so much talk and so much focus on mental well-being. Do you find it's a stress relief? No, no, it's just something. For you, it's a stress relief? Yes. Some companies showing signs of stress by pulling out of the gum game altogether with manufacturers responding to the lower demand by leaving the market. But some experts say not so fast. I think there's opportunities for added functional benefits. So maybe digestive health, maybe immunity. There's one tricky bit when it comes to those kinds of functional benefits, and that is they have to be proven. Meantime, some consumers say their gum habits never went anywhere. I always have gum on me. Yeah, I'm a gum girl. Stephanie Bertini, Fox 5 News.