Market Summaries
Mars United States
Key Facts
- Launched in 1911
- Six business segments: Petcare (including Fishcare and Horsecare), Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience
- 25,500+ Associates
- Thirty-six factories, 18 offices, eight Ethel M chocolate stores, three M&M'S® World stores, and more than 775 BANFIELD® pet hospitals
- Popular brands include M&M'S®, SNICKERS®, MILKY WAY®, TWIX®, FLAVIA®, UNCLE BEN'S®, SEEDS OF CHANGE®, PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, DOUBLEMINT®, EXTRA®, 5™, ORBIT®, SKITTLES®, STARBURST®, BANFIELD® Pet Hospital, NUTRO®, ROYAL CANIN®, COCOAVIA™, ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS™, THE BRIGHT TEA CO.™ and DOVE® hot chocolate drinks™
Mars in the United States
Our company history began in 1911, when Frank C. Mars and his wife Ethel began making candies in the kitchen of their home in Tacoma, Washington. They soon opened their first factory, the Mars Candy Factory, Inc., employing 125 people. In 1929, the company relocated to a new "dream plant" in Chicago, Illinois, which is still in operation today.
Sales quadrupled during the depression years. The SNICKERS® bar was introduced in 1930 and the 3 MUSKETEERS® bar in 1932. In 1941, M&M'S® Plain Chocolate Candies were first introduced to the American public, and in 1950 the trademark "m" was first printed on them. In 1954, the M&M'S® Brand Characters and famous slogan "The Milk Chocolate Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand" first appeared in our television advertising.
In the 1940s, Mars' parboiled rice became part of the menu for U.S. troops, thanks to its nutritional value and quick cooking time. We opened the first commercial parboiling rice plant in Houston, Texas, in 1943. Now known as UNCLE BEN'S® Rice, we have remained one of the leading branded rice products in the U.S. for more than 30 years. Our Food business is headquartered in Rancho Dominguez, California.
Our Petcare business launched in the U.S. in 1968 when we acquired Kal Kan Foods and expanded our pet food business from the U.K. In 1979, the first bag of MEALTIME™ dog food rolled off the production line at Kal Kan's dry pet food site in Mattoon, Illinois, and CRAVE™ dry cat food was introduced nationally in 1980. In 1988, KAL KAN™, MEALTIME™ and CRAVE™ were renamed PEDIGREE® and WHISKAS®. The CESAR® brand was introduced in the U.S. market in 1998. In 2002, we purchased ROYAL CANIN® pet foods in France and introduced the brand globally. We acquired GREENIES® pet treats in 2006, followed by a majority ownership stake in BANFIELD® Pet Hospital and the NUTRO® pet food brand in 2007.
Wrigley started life in 1891 in Chicago, Illinois, introducing JUICY FRUIT® in 1893 and Wrigley's SPEARMINT® a few months later. In 1914, we launched DOUBLEMINT®, which remains one of the highest-selling gum brands in the world. We introduced EXTRA® — our first sugar-free gum — in 1984 and ORBIT® in 2001. In 2005, we became a total confectionery company with the acquisition of ALTOIDS®, CRÈME SAVERS®, LIFE SAVERS® and SUGUS®, and opened the Global Innovation Center in Chicago. In 2007, Wrigley launched 5™ gum in the U.S. and became a part of Mars, Incorporated in 2008.
In 1996, Mars Drinks became the most recent segment to launch in the United States, introducing our FLAVIA® hot drinks system and opening a factory in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which packs the drinks served through this system.
PRINCIPLES IN ACTION
Our manufacturing operations across the U.S. are taking actions to reduce their environmental impacts. For example, 28,000 solar photovoltaic panels at our Chocolate headquarters and M&M'S® manufacturing facility in Hackettstown, New Jersey, save more than 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year — the equivalent of taking 190 vehicles off the road. Our Chocolate plant in Waco, Texas, has replaced 60 percent of the natural gas used in its boilers by harvesting methane from a local landfill site and piping it to the plant. Our Drinks factory in West Chester, Pennsylvania, sends zero production waste to landfill, in part by sending all scrap product to a local animal feed facility.
We're also focused on making our operations more sustainable. At our Wrigley factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, we recently installed 3,820 square feet of solar paneling to reduce energy use, and, in Yorkville, Wrigley maintains a white roof, which cuts energy consumption by nearly 10 percent.
To help our customers maintain sustainable workplaces, Mars Drinks has partnered with Terracycle. This partnership prevents millions of our Freshpack packaging for our drinks from ending up in landfill by turning them into recycling bins, park benches and garden fencing. In 2010, Terracycle collected more than 3.7 million Freshpacks in North America from Mars Drinks’ customers.
As a board member of the Mint Industry Research Council, Wrigley and other industry leaders are working to minimize the environmental impact of mint harvesting in North America. With our partners, we support research projects designed to enhance the long-term sustainability of the U.S. mint industry, including projects that focus on energy efficiency, water use and land-management practices.
Throughout the U.S., Mars partners with organizations that tackle social injustice, improve animal well-being or help protect the environment. For example, in 2010 the PEDIGREE® Foundation provided $976,000 to dog shelters and breed-rescue programs, and Mars Petcare helped more than 1,200 charitable organizations through monetary and in-kind donations and volunteering. In fact, in 2010 approximately 3,200 Petcare Associates from 14 sites in the U.S. took part in 170 Mars Volunteer Program projects, contributing more than 5,250 hours between them. They helped find new homes for pets, distributed food to families in need and improved the local environment by cleaning up parks and planting trees.
Food Associates in Greenville, Mississippi, support the “Blessings in a Backpack” program, which assists elementary school children whose families cannot always afford to feed them well on weekends. Associates help stuff and distribute backpacks of food for students at two Greenville schools to take home every Friday. Mars Food’s sponsorship of the program will expand in 2011 to encompass more schools in Greenville and a school near its headquarters near Los Angeles, California. Through the program, Mars Food will help to ensure that close to 5,000 students in food-insecure households will have improved nutrition.
Through the Pet Peace of Mind program, BANFIELD® Pet Hospital and the BANFIELD® Charitable Trust provide training and funds so hospice patients can keep their pets with them until the very end of their lives. Nonprofit hospices across the U.S. are now equipped to help care for their patients’ pets. In 2010, BANFIELD® and the Charitable Trust funded 20 new programs by raising $178,000.
Through THE POWER OF PETS™ by Mars Petcare initiative, we are applying research from the WALTHAM® Center for Pet Nutrition to help pets and their owners live healthier, happier lives together. In 2010, we ran events to promote pet-friendly health and physical activity in five U.S. cities, in collaboration with local YMCAs.
Through the support of Friends of the Chicago River, Keep Chicago Beautiful and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Wrigley Associates play an active role in making Chicago a vibrant place to live. Outside of Chicago, we partner with organizations to broaden our impact, including Keep America Beautiful — of which we are an original and founding member.
Our products are making a difference as well. Wrigley was the first chewing gum company to receive the American Dental Association (ADA) Seal of Acceptance, for its ORBIT® and EXTRA® brands, based on the findings that chewing for 20 minutes after eating stimulates saliva.
