AKRON, NY — Ford Gum & Machine Company, Inc., leading manufacturer and distributor of premium gum and confectionery products including the full line of Carousel Brand Gumballs and Machines/Dispensers, is introducing a new line of novelty bubble gum and candy products for the kids market at the AWMA show, Booth 745. The novelty line will be available for shipping early in the first quarter of 1999.

“Recent industry studies tell us that today’s kids, ages 6-17, have over $50 billion in annual disposal income,” explains Steve Gold, Ford Gum’s Sr. V.P. Sales & Marketing. “In addition, the purchasing influence factor of kids is between $163 and $200 billion per year. That’s a lot of spending power.”

“And one of the favorite item these kids like to buy is novelty candies,” adds Gold. “Novelty candy accounted for almost $265 million in 1997, up 8.6% from the previous year. So novelty candy is big business.”

“The average kid spends $5 on candy a week,” says Gold. “Furthermore, 56% of all kids ask a parent to buy candy and 70% of them get it when they ask. And the trend for the future is even brighter.”

The initial line-up of Ford Gum novelty products include:

Wallet Bubble Gum, includes a water-resistant zipper wallet with two $100 bubble gum bills, plus a charge card, cash card, license and a blank check; packed 24 pieces to the display box and 6 displays per case.

Fortune Cookie Bubble Gum features one imprinted piece of bubble gum with a fortune, a set of lucky numbers and a set of horoscopes; packed 24 pieces to a display box with 12 displays per case.

Lunch Box Bubble Gum, each display box contains 12 packs of Bologna and 12 packs of Franks (hot dogs) bubble gum. The Bologna packets contain seven pieces of gum and the Franks packets contain eight pieces of hot dog shaped bubble gum; packed 6 displays to the case.

Briefcase Bubble Gum is a miniature briefcase with working locks, handle and hinges. Packaged on a colorful blister card, each card contains a briefcase with a miniature top secret folder and one imprinted piece of bubble gum with a top secret mission. Packed 12 blister cards to a display box with 2 displays per case.

Jewels Bubble Gum and Candy comes packaged in a drawstring cloth bag. Each bag contains pieces of either gold, ruby, emerald or diamond bubble gum or black and white pearl candies. All are individually wrapped. Single product per bag. Each display box contains 4 bags of each variety and is packed 12 displays per case.

In the past year, under its new management team, Ford Gum has been aggressively moving into the retail trade arena. “Ford Gum has been an industry leader in the bulk vending business for over 60 years,” states Gold. “Now we are extending that experience and manufacturing expertise to offer the same high quality bubble gum and candy products for the retail trade.”