🠈 Mars Incorporated 🠊

Mars Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is a privately owned multinational producer of candy and animal car products with headquarters in McLean, Virginia.

The company was founded by Franklin Clarence Mars in 1911 and is still controlled by members of the Mars family.

The video discusses early setbacks and the odyssey of an estranged son who eventually built the family candy store into an international success.

Corporate Time Line

This section shows select events in the Mars corporate history.

1880s: Franklin Clarence Mars learned to make candy from his mother as he recovered from a mild case of polio in Minnesota.
1902: While in high school he started selling bulk candy to stores.
1904: The company could not compete with Hersheys and failed. His wife Ethel took their son Forrest and moved back to her home in Canada.
190?: Frank Mars moved to Seattle. Where he married Ethel Veronica Healy and attempted to start a candy business which failed.
1911: Frank Mars moved to Tacoma and started a candy manufacturing plant which failed.
1920: Frank Mars moved back to Minnesota and began manufacturing chocolate bars as the Mar-O-Bar Co..
1923: Frank's estranged son Forrest Mars like malted shakes and had learned to make nougat. After a brief re-union, Mars created the MilkyWay bar.
1930: Mars introduced the Snickers bar which was named after a horse.
193?: Frank and Forrest disagreed about plans to expand abroad. Frank bought out Forrest for $50,000. Forrest left for Europe.
1932: Mars introduced the Three Musketeers bar.
1932: Forrest rented factory space in Slough, England and produced the Mars Bar and Marathon Bar based on the Snicker's design.
1934: Forrest bought the British firm Chappel Bros which made canned meat for dogs sold under the brand Chappie.
1934: Frank passed away and ownership of Mars passed to Ethel. Her half brother William Kruppenbacher managed the firm and locked Forrest out.
1937: Forrest introduced Maltesers which are malted candy balls in England.
193?: Forrest formed a partnership with Erich Huzenlaub who had created a method for converted rice (aka enriched rice) and had a partnership in Rice Conversion, Ltd.
1941: Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie, who was the son of the president of Hersheys, began producing M&M candies in Clinton, NJ. The design was based on an English candy called Smarties which clad a peanut in a candy shell.
1942: Forrest Mars and Gordon L. Harwell formed Converted Rice, Inc. in Texas. The firm sold converted rice to the US military.
1943: Converted Rice introduced the Uncle Ben's brand to sell converted rice to the public.
1945: Ethel left a third of Mars to Forrest and a third to her daughter Patricia. Patricia sided with Kruppenbacher.
1949: M&M issued the slogan "Melts in your mouth and not in your hand."
1956: The English dog food company adopted the name Petfoods Ltd..
1957: Forrest introduced the Pedigree brand of dog food in Leicestershire, England.
1959: Forrest bought Huzenlaub's interest in Uncle Ben's
1960: Mars introduced the Opal Fruits (a chewy fruit candy) in England.
1964: Forrest's company Food Manufacturers acquired Mars.
1967: Mars introduced Twix and Revels.
1967: Mars introduced the Opal Fruit chews to the US as M&M Fruit Chewies then changed the name to Starburst.
1967: Mars acquired MasterFoods based in Australia.
History of MasterFoods

MasterFoods (web site) is an Australian based food manufacturer. Their site lists over 200 products, primarily seasonings.
- 1945: Henry Lewis started MasterFoods.
1968: Mars acquired Los Angeles based Kal Kan which adopted the Pedigree brand.
History of Kal Kan
- 1936: Kal Kan began manufacturing pet food in Los Angeles.
- 1958: Kal Kan entered British market with a cat food called Whiskas
1978: Forrest founded the company Ethel M. Chocolates in Henderson, Nevada to create gourmet chocolates including liqueur filled cordials. The company opened in 1980.
1981: Forrest opened the Ethel M Botanical Cactus Gardens in Henderson.
1984: Mars moved its headquarters to McClean, Va.
1984: Mars started a hot drinks division called Flavia in England.
1986: Mars acquired Dove Candies
History of Dove Chocolate
- 1939: Leo Stefanos, a Greek immigrant, started Dove Candies & Ice Cream.
- 1956: Dove introduced the Dove ice cream bar.
1989: Kal Kan changed its corporate name to Whiskas.
1997: Mars acquired Seeds of Change of Sante Fe, NM. The company studies nutrition an sustainable agriculture products.²
1999: Ownership of Ethel M Chocolates reverted to Mars Incorporated on Forrest's death.
2003: Mars acquired Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. which it rebranded as Mars Fishcare, Inc.
- 1964: Company established.
2006: Mars acquired S&M NuTec which developed the Greenies brand of dog chews.
History of Little Greenies

Joe and Judy Roetheli developed Greenies with wheat, chlorophyll, vegetable oil and other ingredients to address their dog's problem with bad breath.
- 1998: Joe and Judy Roetheli launched S&M NuTec.
2001: Mars bought the shares of Royal Canine held by Paribas Bank then took the company private
L'histoire de Royal Canine
- 1968: Jean Cathary, a veterinary surgeon in the Gard region of France, began making foods to reduce common canine ailments. The company bought an extruder and was the first European company to sell dry dog food.
- 1970: Company incorporated as Royal Canin S. A..
- 1972: The Guyomarc'h Group, which sold livestock feed, acquired Royal Canine.
- 1990: Paribas Bank acquired Guyomarc'h and broke up the company.
- 1997: Paribas sold 43% of the company to the public. The IPO valued Royal Canine at four and half billion francs.
2007: Mars Petcare launched Wisdom Panel which is a genetic test for dog breed.
2007: Mars acquired Doane Petcare Company.
2007: Mars bought Scott Campbell's shares of Banfield Pet Hospital.
2008: Mars acquired Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company which makes chewing gum in a $23 billion deal organized by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway.
History of Wrigley Company
- 1891: William Wrigley moved to Chicago and began selling Wrigley's Scouring Soap. He included baking soda a premium to buy the soap. He then began selling the baking soda with chewing gum as a premium to buy the baking soda. He then decided to focus on selling chewing gum.
- 1914: Wrigley introduced the Doublemint brand.
- 1921: Wrigley acquired the Chicago Cubs
- 1974: Wrigley' Juicy Fruit gum was the first produce to have a UPC Code.
- 1975: Wrigley introduced Big Red which is a cinnamon flavored gum.
- 1979: Wrigley introduced the Hubba Bubba brand.
- 1982: Wrigley began producing Skittles in the United States.
  History of Skittles
  
  The history of Skittles is obscur. Legend claims that a British man named Mr. Skittles wanted to know what a rainbow tasted like. It is possible the candy was invented by Wrigleys.
  - 1974: The candy appeared commercially in England.
  - 1979: Wrigleys began importing Skittles into the US.
- 1984: Wrigley introduced the brand Extra.
- 1991: Wrigley introduce the Excel brand in Canada.
- 1999: Wrigley introduced the Eclipse brand. The candy is similar to Excel.
- 2005: Wrigley acquired the Life Savers and Altoid brands from Kraft Foods.
  - 1983: Kraft/Phillip Morris acquired Terry's of York which owned the Altoids brand.
    History of Altoids
    
    Altoids is a curiously strong mint that was originally developed as a tonic to relieve stomache aches.³
    - 1781: Smith Kendon developed Altoids, a solid mint thin with a large quantity of peppermint oil, as a remedy for intestinal discomfort in London.
    - Callard and Bowser, a confectionery company, acquired Smith and Company.
    - 192?: The company began selling the product in metal tins.
    - 1982: Terry's of York acquired Callard and Bowser.
    - 1993: Kraft/Phillip Morris acquired Terry's of York..
  - 2000: Kraft acquired Nabisco which owned Beech-Nut and Life-Savers
    Early History of Life Savers
    
    Life-Savers is a brand of hard candy that comes in rolls and has a hole in the center. This section shows the early history of the company.
    - 1912: Clarence Crane created peppermint Life Savers in Garrettsville, Ohio.
    - 1913: Edward Noble of Gouveneur, NY bought the Life Saver formula for $2,900 to start his own candy company. He branded the candy as Pep-O-Mint.
    - 1921: The company introduced fruit flavors.
    - 1927: The company added a Cherry flavor.
    - 1956: Life Savers Limited merged with Beech-Nut.
    - 1968: E.R. Squibb Corporation acquired Beech-Nut Life Savers.
    - 1981: Nabisco Brands Inc. bought Life Savers from the E.R. Squibb.
    - 1987: Hershey Canada bought the Canadian Life Savers business.
      - 1996: Beta Brands Limited acquired the Canadian Life Savers business.
  - 2001: Kraft bought the Canadian Life Saver business from Beta Brands.
200?: Mars transferred Starburst to its Wrigley's subsidiary.
2010: Mars closed the Seeds of Change farm and research facility in Sante Fe.² Mars uses the name as a brand of foods and as a business accelorator.
2010: Mars Drinks acquired Alterra Coffee Roasters and launched The Bright Tea Company brand.
2014: Mars opened a $270 million chocolate plant in Topeka, Ks.
2014: Mars acquired all but the European rights for Iams and Eukanuba from Proctor & Gamble.
Iams Pet Food
- 1946: Paul Iams (an animal nutrionist in Dayton, Oh) developed a protein based dry dog food called Iams 999.
- 1969: Iams introduced the Eukanuba brand.
- 1975: Clay Mathile purchased half the company which was suffering from wage and price controls.
- 1982: Mathile became sole owner.
- 1999: Proctor & Gamble acquired Iams.
Mars Petcare acquired BluePearl Veterinary Partners.
2016: Mars bought Berkshire Hataway's stake in Wrigley to become sole owner.
2017: Mars acquired VCA Inc which owns a thousand pet care clinics for $7.7 billion.
2018: Mars Veterinary Health International acquired the Linnaeus Group.
2018: Mars acquired AniCura which is a European concern that was established in 2011 to roll up the European veterinary sector.
2018: The Italian firm Lavazza acquired the Mars Hot Drink division.
2020: Mars sued JAB Holdings claiming that former executive Jacek Szarzynski gave JAB 6,000 pages of internal documents with trade secrets.⁷
2020, Mars acquired Kind North America, which makes snack foods, for $5 billion.⁵
- 2004: Daniel Lubetzky founded Kind.
- 2008: VMG Partners invested in Kind.
- 2017: Mars bought a minority stake in Kind.
2022: Mars acquired Trü Frü of West Valley City, Ut which makes whole fruit snacks.⁶
- 2017: Brian Neville, Taz Murray and Brandon O'Brien founded Trü Frü in West Valley City, Ut