By David Jones
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cadbury Schweppes Plc (CBRY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's No. 1 confectionery group, on Tuesday said its chewing gum market share in the United States rose to a record 32.7 percent in January as it takes share away from arch-rival Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. WWY.N.
London-based Cadbury is looking to drive chewing gum growth with its new liquid center-filled Trident Splash and soft long-lasting flavor gum, Stride.
The gum maker said its share had risen from 27 percent in 2003 when Cadbury bought Adams for $4.2 billion to become the world's top confectionery group and the No. 2 player in the global gum market, behind Chicago-based Wrigley, whose U.S. market share has fallen to 59 percent.
"We have no specific target for market share, we just look to take one share point at a time as it is quite a competitive market," said Brad Irwin, president of Cadbury Adams US, speaking at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago.
Irwin said Cadbury had gained U.S. share as 90 percent of its gum portfolio is sugarless -- increasingly seen as "snack substitutes" -- and has focused on fruit-flavored gums.
Wrigley's has a higher percentage of sugar gums.
The British group has benefited from the 7 to 8 percent annual growth in the overall U.S. chewing gum market, now worth $3 billion a year, but Irwin points out the sugarless gum market is growing at twice that rate, at around 15 percent a year.
Cadbury launched Trident Splash toward the end of 2005 and Stride in June 2006. Stride now has a 3.5 percent market share. A third flavor, sweet peppermint, has just been added. Continued...
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