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Founded by Franklin Clarence Mars on Jun 23, 1911, in Minneapolis.1
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 sold to the public. Though abandoned shortly after the war, about 30 years later, Orbit came back to America.
Franklin Clarence Mars, whose mother taught him to hand dip candy, sold candy by age 19. He started the Mars Candy Factory on June 23, 1911, with Ethel V. Mars, his second wife, in Tacoma, Washington. This factory produced and sold fresh candy wholesale, but ultimately the venture failed because there was a better established business, Brown & Haley, also operating in Tacoma. By 1920, Mars had returned to his home state, Minnesota, where the earliest incarnation of the present day Mars company was founded that year as Mar-O-Bar Co., in Minneapolis and later incorporated there as Mars, Incorporated.
In 1923, Forrest Mars Sr., son of Frank and his first wife, Ethel G. Mars, was discussing his father's business struggles with him at a soda fountain. Inspired by his beverage, Forrest suggested that his father base a candy bar on a chocolate malted milk milkshake. Frank took the suggestion and, making use of the neglected ingredient Minneapolis nougat, introduced the Milky Way bar, advertised as a "chocolate malted milk in a candy bar", which became the best-selling candy bar. In 1929, Frank moved the company to Chicago and started full production in a plant which still exists today. In 1930, Frank Mars created the Snickers bar and first sold it in US markets. In 1932, Mars introduced the 3 Musketeers bar.
In 1932, Forrest Mars was given a check by his father as well as the foreign rights to market the Milky Way. The younger Mars moved to Great Britain and started his own company, Mars Limited, in the town of Slough. The Mars bar was launched there to great success. He continued to expand his company over the next decades.
Following the death of Frank Mars in 1934, the Mars company ownership was placed into the hands of his widow's family. Ethel V. Mars served as president, but company activities were otherwise run by her half-brother, William Kruppenbacher. In gradual phases, Forrest Mars, who ran his own Mars company in Britain, finally took control of his father's company in Chicago by 1964 and merged the two entities together into one Mars.
Mars moved its headquarters to McLean, Virginia, in 1984. In 2001, Mars purchased the Lucas candy company. In 2004, Lucas was discontinued when high amounts of lead were found inside their candies.
Mars's purchase of Doane Petcare Company in June 2007 significantly increased Mars's position in the U.S. dry pet food category. In addition to these businesses, Mars also operates a chain of premium chocolate shops called Ethel M Chocolates. 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.
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. The response from many consumers, particularly the Vegetarian Society's request for UK vegetarians to register their protests with Mars, generated extensive press and caused the company to abandon the plans shortly after. Mars switched to all-vegetarian sources in the UK.
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In 2008, Mars and theBelGroup conducted a research study that resurrected the famous Mars slogan "Work, Rest & Play." Packaged and led the global launch of the Mars Refuel Sports drink. Initiated and implemented sponsorship program "The Mars Refuel Drink Fund."
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 generated sales of over $30 billion in 2008. Mars's US confectionery division, Masterfoods USA (formerly M&M Mars), was merged into Wrigley, and its chocolate products were reorganized into the newly formed subsidiary Mars Chocolate North America, LLC.
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, Symbioscience.
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.
In February 2016, Mars stated that it would no longer be using artificial colors in any of its candy products. In 2016, Mars Inc. announced the merger of its chocolate and Wrigley segments to form a new subsidiary, called "Mars Wrigley Confectionery". In 2017, the company's confectionery segment announced a return to its roots, and opened a new office in Newark, New Jersey.
In May 2020, Mars filed a lawsuit against JAB Holding over claims that Jacek Szarzynski, a former JAB Holding executive stole various confidential documents and passed them to the owner of Pret a Manger and Panera Bread. According to the lawsuit, over 6,000 Mars internal documents, including detailed financial results, strategic planning documents, and potential acquisition targets, were illegally downloaded.
In the United States, the company has 22 manufacturing facilities in Hackettstown, New Jersey; Albany, Georgia; Burr Ridge, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; and Mattoon, Illinois; Cleveland, Tennessee; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania; Greenville, Mississippi; Greenville and Waco, Texas; Henderson and Reno, Nevada; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Joplin, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami, Oklahoma; and Galena, Kansas. Their newest chocolate producing facility, the first in 23 years, was established in 2014 at a cost of $270 million and is situated in Topeka, Kansas. Their Canadian facilities are located in Bolton and Newmarket, Ontario.
In November 2020, Mars acquired full ownership of snack food company Kind North America for $5 billion. Two years later in December 2022, it was announced Mars had acquired the Utah headquartered whole-fruit snacking brand, Trü Frü, the acquisition forming a new health and wellness sub-brand which will include the brand, Kind and Nature's Bakery. A further acquisition was made in November 2023 when Mars purchased the Hotel Chocolat for £534 million. The company would remain independent from Mars's brands and for such will have no recipe changes or no Mars products within its stores, the company hopes to bring it to more markets. It increases Mars's retail presence, a presence they already had with M&M's World. The acquisition was complete by January 25, 2024.
On September 1, 2023, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has included two leading food corporations, PepsiCo and Mars, on the list of international sponsors of the war. Despite the declaration of reduction of their business, cessation of advertising activities, and production of their products, they continue to work in the Russian Federation.
On August 14, 2024, Mars Inc. announced its acquisition of Kellanova, which was known as Kellogg's until 2023 (its spun-off North American cereal business is WK Kellogg Co, now owned by Ferrero SpA), for $83.50 per share in cash, for a total consideration of $35.9 billion, including assumed net leverage. According to the companies, this is the largest acquisition of 2024 to date, while analysts described it as the largest CPG transaction since the merger between Kraft and Heinz in 2015.
The agreement has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Kellanova. The transaction is subject to Kellanova shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close within the first half of 2025. The transaction agreement permits Kellanova to declare and pay quarterly dividends that are consistent with historical practice prior to the closing of the transaction. On December 11, 2025, Mars successfully acquired Kellanova after its $36 billion bid won European Union approval after regulators backtracked on earlier concerns.
From Wikipedia’s article on Mars Inc., shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5