Mars, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Confectionery, food and animal products manufacturing
Founded	1911 in Tacoma, Washington, USA 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Founder(s)	Frank C. Mars
Headquarters	6885 Elm Street, McLean, Virginia, USA
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	John Mars (Chairman) Paul S. Michaels (President and CEO)
Products	Broadly: Chocolate bars; gum; candy; mints; beveragess; foodstuffs; pet food Major brands in alphabetical order include: 5 · Big Red · Bounty · Doublemint · Dove/Galaxy · Eclipse · Extra · Freedent · Hubba Bubba · Juicy Fruit · Life Savers · M&M's · Mars · Milky Way · Orbit · Pedigree · Skittles · Snickers · Starburst · Spearmint · Twix · Uncle Ben's · Whiskas · Winterfresh
Services	Animal care
Revenue	US$30 billion (2010)[1]
Owner(s)	Mars family
Employees	70,000 (2008)[1]
Subsidiaries	Wrigley Jr. Company
Website	http://www.mars.com

Mars, Incorporated is an American manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products with US$30 billion in annual sales in 2010, and is ranked as the 5th largest privately held company in the United States by Forbes.^[2] Headquartered in McLean, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, USA,^[3][4] the company is entirely owned by the Mars family. Mars operates in six business segments in the U.S.: Chocolate (Hackettstown, New Jersey), Petcare (Franklin, Tennessee), Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company (Chicago, Illinois), Food (Los Angeles, California), Drinks (West Chester, Pennsylvania), and Symbioscience (Rockville, Maryland).^[5]. Mars inc's biggest rival is Hersheys.

History[link]

Mars was founded by Frank C. Mars and is a company that is known for the confectionery items that it creates^[6], such as Milky Way, M&M's, Twix, Skittles, Snickers, and the Mars bar. They also produce non-confectionery snacks (including Combos) and other foods (including Uncle Ben's and pasta sauce brand Dolmio) as well as pet foods (such as Whiskas and Pedigree brands).

Orbit gum is among the most popular brands, managed by the Mars subsidiary brand Wrigley. During World War II, Wrigley was selling their eponymous gum only to soldiers, while Orbit was the gum made available to the public. Though abandoned shortly after the war, about 60 years later Orbit made a comeback in America during the gum craze.^[7][8]

Frank C. Mars, whose mother taught him to hand dip candy, sold candy by age 19.^[9] The Mars Candy Factory he started in 1911 with Ethel V. Mars, his second wife, in Tacoma, Washington,^[9] ultimately failed^[10] but it had already become a large employer, producing and selling fresh candy wholesale.^[9] By 1920, Frank Mars had returned to his home state, Minnesota, where the company was founded that year as Mar-O-Bar Co. in Minneapolis^[11] and later incorporated there as Mars, Incorporated.^[9] Forrest Mars, son of Frank Mars and his first wife who was also named Ethel, was inspired by a popular type of milkshake^[12] in 1923, to introduce the Milky Way bar, advertised as a "chocolate Malted Milk in a candy bar",^[13] and became the best-selling candy bar.^[11] In 1929, Frank moved the company to Chicago, Illinois and started full production in a plant which still exists today.^[14] In 1932, Forrest started Mars Limited in the United Kingdom, and launched the Mars bar.

Mars is still a family owned business, belonging to the Mars family. The company is famous for its secrecy. A 1993 Washington Post Magazine article was a rare raising of the veil, as the reporter was able to see the "M"s being applied to the M&M's, something that "no out-sider had ever before been invited to observe."^[15] In 1999, for example, the company did not acknowledge that Forrest Mars, Sr., had died or that he had worked for the company.^[16]

The company published its Principles in Action communication in September 2011. This communication outlines the history of Mars, its legacy as a business committed to its Five Principles and the company’s goal of putting its Principles into action to make a difference to people and the planet through performance. Encompassing themes of Health and Nutrition, Supply Chain, Operations, Products and Working at Mars, the Principles in Action communication outlines Mars Incorporated’s targets, progress, and ongoing challenges. It also describes its businesses – including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience.^[17]

Mars, Incorporated has developed a reputation across its leading markets to be excellent training grounds for managers. In the United Kingdom for instance, many CEOs of large companies learned their trade at Mars, Inc., including former Mars executives Allan Leighton and Justin King, the former appointed CEO of the supermarket chain Asda and then the British postal service Royal Mail, with the latter presently the CEO of the retailer J Sainsbury plc. Recently, the company caught on to that and re-branded their employer brand to "Mars — The Ultimate Business School".^[18]

Moving into the fourth generation of family ownership, the company recently passed from family leadership into non-family leadership; however, the business is still owned by the family. The global CEO of Mars, Inc. is Paul Michaels. Michaels is part of a new group of non-family management that has taken over since the retirement of John and Forrest Mars, Jr.. The family now oversees the business as a council or board of directors.

In the United States the company has manufacturing facilities in Hackettstown, New Jersey; Albany, Georgia; Burr Ridge, Chicago and Mattoon, Illinois; Cleveland, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania; Greenville, Mississippi; Greenville and Waco, Texas; Henderson and Reno, Nevada; Vernon, California; Ft.Smith, Arkansas; Joplin, Missouri; Miami, Oklahoma; and Galena, Kansas. Their Canadian facilities are located in Bolton and Newmarket, Ontario.^[19]

Recent history[link]

Mars's purchase of Doane Petcare Company in June 2007 significantly increased its position in the U.S. dry pet food category. In addition to these businesses, Mars also operates a chain of premium chocolate shops across the United States called Ethel's. These shops are an outgrowth of the Ethel M premium chocolate business that Forrest Mars started in Las Vegas in 1980 when he became bored with retirement.^[20]

On April 28, 2008, Mars, Incorporated, together with Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated, announced the buyout of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, the world's largest chewing gum producer, for $23 billion in an all-cash deal. The two companies together are expected to generate sales in excess of $27 billion.

The company spent more than $1.8 million on lobbying during 2008, almost all of it at Patton Boggs, where it has long been one of the largest lobbying clients. Mars also spent $10,000 at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. In 2009, Mars also hired Ernst & Young to lobby on corporate and international tax issues, including issues related to tax changes proposed by the Obama administration. The company spent another $1,655,000 that year.^[21]

Until sold in June 2006, a division of Mars known as Mars Electronics International produced, among other products, coin mechanisms such as those used in vending machines. MEI also manufactured bill validators, which were among the most common bill validators found in the US.

A further Mars business — Four Square — utilize those products formerly made at MEI in their vending machines. Four Square comprises the Flavia and Klix brands. Flavia operates within the US, UK and Japanese markets, while Klix operates within UK, Germany and France.

In 2007, Mars, Incorporated undertook a major rebranding operation which saw, among other global changes, Four Square being renamed to Mars Drinks, the pet food division (formerly part of Masterfoods) being renamed to Mars Petfoods and Masterfoods itself (the largest division of Mars, Incorporated) being renamed to Mars Snacks^{[citation needed]}.

Masterfoods[link]

The European division is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, and was known as Masterfoods Europe until the end of 2007. The name Masterfoods originally came from a food business founded by the Lewis family in 1949 in Australia, and acquired by Mars in 1967. The Canadian division (formerly Effem Inc.) is based in Bolton, Ontario.

The company announced at the end of 2007 that all business units were adopting the name Mars. Masterfoods ceased to be a business name but continues as the brand name of food products in Australia.

Mars Petcare[link]

In February 2003, Mars acquired Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.^[22] (API, incorporated in 1964) and in 2007 it was renamed Mars Fishcare, Inc. The company manufactures and supplies home aquarium and pond products.^[23] Mars Fishcare brands include:^[24] Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (API),^[25] RENA,^[26] AQUARIAN,^[27] and PondCare.^[28]

In Australia, the division operates three sites that are located in Wodonga, Victoria (established in 1967 for manufacture of wet pet food); Bathurst, New South Wales (established in 1980s for manufacture of dry pet food); and Brisbane, Queensland (for manufacture of birdcare products).^[29]

Mars Food UK Limited[link]

Mars Food UK Limited is the name of the British branch of Mars, Inc. The company is based in Slough, UK. Mars brands manufactured for the UK market but not for the US include Maltesers and Tunes.

In 1932, Forrest Mars, Sr., opened what was then Mars (Europe) headquarters, and remains Mars (UK) headquarters in Slough, UK^[16] on the then-new Slough Trading Estate after a disagreement with his father, Frank C. Mars. In this factory, he produced the first Mars bar, based on the American Milky Way.^[30] In 1936, Mars separated the vanilla version of Milky Way to a separate brand, Forever Yours, which was discontinued and later reintroduced as Milky Way Dark and later still, Milky Way Midnight.^{[citation needed]}

Many brands which were later introduced in the US were first created and sold in Britain;^{[citation needed]} these include Starburst, Skittles, Twix, Snickers and Topic.

The bar formerly sold in the U.S. as the Mars bar is now marketed in that country as the Snickers Almond Bar and is not sold consistently in the UK where it has appeared with other special editions that are released occasionally.

Milky Way in Europe and worldwide is known as the 3 Musketeers in America. Similarly, the Snickers bar was previously marketed in Britain and the Republic of Ireland as Marathon until 1990; in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands, also until 1990; Galaxy is known as Dove in America and the Middle East; and Starburst was known in the UK and Ireland as Opal Fruits until 1998. Chocolate and peanut M&M's were introduced in 1990.

Factories[link]

The two factories in Slough were located on Liverpool Road and Dundee Road; the one on Liverpool Road closed in 2007, with Twix and Starburst production moving to the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.^[31]

In 1963 a large factory was opened in Veghel, the Netherlands. This factory has currently the biggest production volume of Mars factories and is even one of the biggest chocolate factories in the world.^[32] Most confectionery products for Europe are produced in Slough, UK and Veghel, the Netherlands.

The major production plant for Mars confectionery products in Australia is in Ballarat, Victoria.^[33]

Mars Drinks UK[link]

Mars Drinks UK, the beverages division of Mars Limited, operates from Basingstoke in Hampshire and specialises in office vending machines. Mars Drinks UK comprises the FLAVIA and Klix brands which offer branded drinks such as the Starburst Orange Drink, the Maltesers Hot Chocolate and the Galaxy drinks.

Nevertheless, Mars is not only the producer of chocolate bars and gum. Mars is also a producer of other items such as coffee and the equipment used to make it. In 1982 FLAVIA was created out of the high demand for coffee in the United Kingdom. Initially marketed as Dimension 3 until 1989, FLAVIA was introduced in France and Germany in 1986 and Japan in 1992 then brought to the United States in 1996 and to Canada in 1997. Other products such as cappuccino were introduced in 2002 and tea in 2004.^[34]

Criticism[link]

From May 1, 2007, many Mars products made in the UK became unsuitable for vegetarians. The company announced that it would be using whey made with animal rennet (material from a calf's stomach lining, and a byproduct of veal), instead of using rennet made by microorganisms, in products including Mars, Twix, Snickers, Maltesers, Bounty, Minstrels and Milky Way.^[35] The response from many thousands of consumers, particularly the Vegetarian Society's request for UK vegetarians to register their protests with Mars, generated a lot of press, and caused the company to abandon these plans shortly thereafter.^[36] It has reportedly decided to switch to all-vegetarian sources in the near future in the UK.^[37][38] In January 2008, the Metro newspaper reported that Mars had allegedly begun to incorporate animal-derived rennet.^[39]

Mars has come under criticism by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for funding animal tests which the group alleges are inhumane.^[40] One study was conducted in collaboration with the Salk Institute regarding angiogenesis and spatial memory in which mice were given an ad libitum diet that included epicatechin, plant-derived flavonoid. One of the experiments involved groups of control and experimental animals, the latter of which were housed in a cage that included a running wheel for optional exercise for two hours a day, the former did not have access to a running wheel. Another experiment was the classical spacial memory assay, the Morris water maze. The study showed that the inclusion of epicatechin in the diet improved memory and angiogenesis, and more so if coupled with exercise.^[41][42]

Mars has been criticized for buying cocoa beans from West African farmers who reportedly use unpaid or poorly paid child laborers. In 2009, Mars announced that, as of 2010, the company would only purchase cocoa from suppliers who meet environmental, labor and production standards. TransFair USA, an organization which certifies products as Fair Trade, applauded the move and expressed hope that it would include a provision for fair wages for laborers and farmers.^[43] In 2010, Mars Inc. received the U.S. Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence.^[44] In April 2010, Mars launched the MyCocoaPaper initiative, which claims to provide economic opportunities to women and families in Indonesia by making paper products out of cocoa bark and recycled office paper.^[45]

In 2011, Mars and Fairtrade International announced an agreement to introduce the first Fairtrade labeled Mars product and to work together to enable farmers to have sustainable livelihoods and substantially increased productivity. The first Mars product to carry the Fairtrade mark will be Maltesers, to appear in stores in 2012 in the UK and Ireland.^[46]

Products[link]

Many of Mars's products are household, famous-name brands. Some of these product lines are manufactured by Mars; others are manufactured by The Wrigley Company.

Products for human consumption[link]

A Bounty bar.

File:Dove-Dark-Wrapper-Small.jpg

Dove wrapper.

Galaxy Minstrels

• 3 Musketeers
• Balisto
• Bounty
• Celebrations
• Cirku
• CocoaVia
• Combos
• Dolmio
• Dove
• Ebly
• FLAVIA
• Fling
• Flyte
• Galaxy
• Galaxy Bubbles
• Galaxy Minstrels
• Kudos

File:M&Ms-Wrapper-Small.jpg

M&M's wrapper.

File:Mars-Bar-UK-Wrapper-Small.jpg

Mars wrapper.

File:Snickers wrapped.jpg

Snickers wrapper.

A Twix bar.

• M-Azing
• M&M's
• Maltesers
• Marathon
• Mars
• Masterfoods
• Milky Way
• Minstrels
• Munch
• Promite
• Revels
• Seeds of Change
• Snickers
• Topic
• Tracker
• Twix
• Uncle Ben's Rice

Products manufactured by The Wrigley Company[link]

5 gum cobalt packaging.

• 5 (gum)
• Airwaves
• Alpine
• Altoids
• Big League Chew
• Big Red
• Bubble Tape
• Doublemint
• Eclipse
• Eclipse Ice
• Excel
• Extra

File:Juicy Fruit.svg

Juicy Fruit logo.

File:Orbit (gum).jpg

Orbit packaging.

• Freedent
• Hubba Bubba
• Juicy Fruit
• Lockets
• Orbit
• Ouch!
• Skittles
• Starburst
• Surpass
• Tunes
• Wrigley's Spearmint
• Winterfresh

Products for non-human consumption[link]

Pedigree dry dog food.

• ADVANCE (Australia and New Zealand only)
• Aquarium Pharmaceuticals
• Buckeye Nutrition
• Cesar
• Chappi
• Exelpet
• Greenies
• Medi-Cal (on prescription)
• My Dog
• Nutro Products
• Pedigree
• Pill Pockets

File:Royal Canin logo.svg

Royal Canin dog and cat food logo.

File:Whiskas logo.png

Whiskas cat food logo.

• Royal Canin
• Schmackos
• Seramis
• Sheba
• Spillers
• Teasers
• Techni-Cal
• Treets
• Whiskas
• Winergy
• Wisdom Panel MX Mixed Breed DNA Test

Obsolete product lines[link]

• Bisc &
• Cookies &
• Pacers
• PB Max
• Royals
• Spangles
• Summit Candy Bar

Services[link]

• Banfield, The Pet Hospital (managed by MMI company)

Recycling[link]

TerraCycle repurposes waste packaging from Mars Incorporated and Wrigley's operations into products ranging from cell phone holders and laptop sleeves to messenger bags.

See also[link]

	Virginia portal
	Companies portal
	Food portal

• Big Chocolate
• List of food companies

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Stephen Beckett, Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use, Fourth Edition, Wiley-Blackwell, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4051-3949-6.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mars, Incorporated

• Official website
• Mars local site links
• Masterfoods site
• Mars, Incorporated companies grouped at OpenCorporates

Mars Symbioscience Businesses:

• Symbioscience
• Mars Botanical