Trident (gum)

Trident is a brand of sugar-free chewing gum owned by the Italian-Dutch company Perfetti Van Melle. It was originally introduced by American Chicle in 1960 shortly before it was bought by Warner-Lambert in 1962. It reached the UK in 2007 when it was introduced by its then-owner Cadbury Schweppes in the United Kingdom.[1]

Trident is sold in more than 70 countries around the world, but sometimes marketed under different names. The gum is called Stimorol across much of Europe and Africa, Beldent in Argentina, First in Turkey, Dirol in Russia, and Hollywood in France.[2]

History

American Chicle Company introduced sugar-free Trident gum in 1960. Two years later, the business was purchased by Warner-Lambert.[3]

Trident expanded internationally in 1970, entering the Canada, Spain, and Switzerland markets.[4] When Trident television advertisements began airing in the 1970s, Trident sales went from $27 million worldwide in 1973 to $80 million in 1976. By 1977, Trident was the best selling sugarless gum on the market.[5] During the 1970s, Chicle stopped making the sugar-based Black Jack, Clove, and Beemans gums in order to shift resources to Trident and Freshen Up.[3] The gum was manufactured in Chicle's Long Island City factory until Warner-Lambert closed it in 1981.[6]

Trident was manufactured by the Chicle subsidiary of Warner-Lambert until 1997, when it became Adams.[7] In November 1999, Warner-Lambert announced its intentions to merge with American Home Products[8] before Pfizer stepped in and offered more money.[9] The $90.2 billion deal was announced in February 2000.[10] Following a two-year bar on selling the candy division, Pfizer sold Adams to Cadbury Schweppes for $4.2 billion in December 2002.[11][12] By 2005, Trident's worldwide sales grew by 20%.[13] It first reached market in 2007.[14] By March, the gum had captured 12% of the market.[15]

In 2010, Kraft Foods acquired Cadbury for $19.6 billion.[16] By 2011, Trident led the US gum market with a 23.8 percent share of the industry.[17] When Kraft announced in 2012 that it would split into two companies, Trident became part of Mondelez International.[18] The Trident brand launched China in 2015.[19]

In 2022, Mondelez announced it would divest its gum brands, including Trident, in North America and Europe.[20][21] In 2023, Mondelez sold its gum portfolio, including Trident, to European confectionery manufacturer Perfetti Van Melle.[22][23]

Products

Advertising

When it was introduced in 1960, Trident used the slogan "The Great Taste that Is Good for Your Teeth."[48] Canadian Chicle's marketing was one of the first national campaigns to promote dental health through chewing gum.

For years, Trident was promoted with the slogan, “Four out of five dentists surveyed recommend sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum.”[49][50] This slogan is believed to have been based on the results of a survey of practicing dentists with either D.D.S. or D.M.D. degrees, apparently conducted in the early 1960s, whose patients included frequent users of chewing gums; the percentage of respondents to the survey whose responses indicated they would make such references to their patients is believed to have been approximately 80%, rounded off to the nearest full percentage point, of the total number of respondents. It became strongly associated with the Trident brand.

In the early 2000s, "See what Unfolds" became the new slogan for the brand.[51]

Trident gum contains the sugar alcohol xylitol, which is known as a "tooth-friendly" sugar.[52] Use of the chemical has been subject to controversy, as it is highly toxic to dogs.[53][54]

See also

• Dentyne

External links

• Trident's official website
• Trident fact sheet