Maybe I’m late to the party on this and maybe it’s just something limited to where I live but it seems Lifesavers are disappearing from candy shelves in convenience stores, supermarkets, drug stores, and gas stations. It used to be that you could go nearly anywhere and find rolls of various Lifesaver flavors for sale. Now, while you still find gum, breath mints, and Tic Tacs, Lifesavers are mostly conspiculously absent and if you do find any, they’re the Big Lifesaver bags–not exactly the best size for a pocket.
I have. I haven’t seen a roll of LifeSavers in I don’t know how long. Even when I find the bags, just about the only flavors I see are the mints. The website still features the iconic five flavor roll, however, so I guess they’re still being made.
The classic Five Flavor roll was torpedoed some ten years ago, when they inexplicably eliminated all the citrus flavors. [Pit thread on the topic.] I understand that they have subsequently brought back orange, but too little too late. I haven’t purchased a roll since then.
Even the classic mint trio (PepOMint, SpearOMint, and WintOGreen) is getting near impossible to find in roll form. Just today, I bought the last two SpearOMint LifeSaver rolls at a nearby gas station/convenience store. There won’t be any more sold there since they’re being discontinued along with the PepOMint and WintOGreen. The classic five fruit flavor assortment is still being sold but for how I long I don’t know.
Wife was jonesing for a roll of Clove Life Savers last week to settle her stomach. I had to break the news to her that, as she had buying buying them thirty-five years ago they stopped making them in 1981. I tried to find a substitute at our favorite Italian/Mexican/Greek/Polish grocery store they had nothing like that. I guess all the Italian/Mexican/Greek/Polish grandmothers who bought clove candies died. We may have to go online.
I was just at a Michael’s craft store and saw rolls of Lifesavers shelved on their “Retro candy” display, along with Mallow Cups and Chick-o-Sticks. This is a sad day.
I noticed this too. Every one in a while I just need a roll of CristOmints. And don’t even dare tell me they’re discontinuing WintOgreen! They can’t take away my parlor tricks.
And what about Certs? Are they still available in stores? A quick search tells me that they are available online, but I cannot remember the last time I saw them.
From what I was told, the WintOGreen rolls were no longer going to be sold at the gas station/convenience store where I bought the last SpearOMints. However, WintoOGreen and the other LifeSaver mints were still going to be available in the large bags.
I’ve noticed them being harder to find, but not disappearing. I can still get rolls of Lifesavers at candy and convemnience stores, but they’re not as prominent as they once were, and not all flavors are available (I sometimes have to get Pep-O-Mint instead of Wint-O-Green).
But I still don’t have a problem finding them at airports, for instance.
