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.Headquartered
in McLean, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, USA, 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).Mars was founded by Frank C. Mars and
is a company that is known for the confectionery items that it creates, 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.Frank C. Mars, whose
mother taught him to hand dip candy, sold candy by age 19.The Mars Candy
Factory he started in 1911 with Ethel V. Mars, his second wife, in Tacoma, Washington,ultimately failed but it had already become a large employer,
producing and selling fresh candy wholesale. 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 and
later incorporated there as Mars, Incorporated. Forrest Mars,
son of Frank Mars and his first wife who was also named Ethel, was inspired by
a popular type of milkshake in 1923, to introduce the Milky Way bar, advertised as a "chocolate
Malted Milk in a candy bar",and became the best-selling candy bar.In 1929,
Frank moved the company to Chicago, Illinois and
started full production in a plant which still exists today.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."In 1999, for example,
the company did not acknowledge that Forrest Mars, Sr., had died or that he had worked for the company.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.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 Leightonand 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".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.
Revenue $ 30 billion (2010)