Do you remember Juicy Fruit chewing gum?

I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents’ house when I was younger. My grandfather had quite the sweet tooth. After lunch, he’d open up the kitchen drawer full of Oreos, Twinkies, Nutter Butters, Doritos, okay Doritos aren’t sweets, but they were in the same drawer, so yeah.

I guess I can thank my grandpa for my frequent junk food cravings.

To top off the afternoon, me and my sister would always get a piece of gum, usually Juicy Fruit.

I always thought it was funny how full of flavor it was for the first few minutes, but after that it was just a gob of rubber to chew on. And not especially great for blowing bubbles.

Its flavor’s lack of endurance hasn’t hurt its reputation though, with 99% of Americans recognizing the brand name, according to Wikipedia.

And whereas most chewing gum’s flavor is rather obvious, be it spearmint or peppermint, is vague about which fruit really makes it so popular.

“Experts” speculate it’s a combination of banana and pineapple, while some say the chemicals used for flavoring come from banana oil and jackfruit.

Japanese Juicy Fruit

Apparently, in 1959, the Japanese company Lotte introduced their own brand of chewing gum in bright yellow packaging.

Lotte’s well-known Juicy & Fresh Chewing Gum was sold between 1959 and 1995. The Juicy Fruit look-alike was popular for its fruity flavor (just as vague and addicting as the American brand) and a hint of cinnamon spice.

Lotte is bringing back their retro style chewing gum and it will be available again all across Japan starting November 17, 2020.

In addition to their Juicy & Fresh, they’re also bringing back another variety of gum called Quick Quench C for Sports and Health.

Sold between 1978 and 1992, you can now once again enjoy its powerfully refreshing lemon flavor.

As Juicy Fruit isn’t as common in Japan, you can soon enjoy Lotte’s look-alike version. I guess we’ll find out then how similar the flavors really are.