Mars Inc.
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Mars, Incorporated, operating as Mars Inc., is an American multinational that makes confectionery, pet food, other food products, and provides animal care services. Founded on June 23, 1911, it is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, within the Washington metropolitan area, and remains entirely owned by the Mars family. In 2022, the company reported US$45 billion in annual sales, and that year Forbes ranked it as the fourth-largest privately held company in the United States.
The company operates through four global subsidiaries: Snacking, based in Chicago, Illinois, with U.S. headquarters in Hackettstown and Newark, New Jersey; Petcare, with locations in Zaventem, Belgium; Poncitlán, Jalisco, Mexico; and Querétaro, Mexico; Food, in Rancho Dominguez, California; and Mars Edge, the life sciences division, in Germantown, Maryland.
Mars is best known for its confectionery brands, including Mars bars, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way bars, M&M's, Skittles, Snickers, Twix, and Bounty. It also produces non-confectionery snacks like Combos, and other foods such as Ben's Original and the pasta sauce brand Dolmio, as well as pet foods like Pedigree, Whiskas, Nutro, and Royal Canin.
**History**
Orbit gum, a popular brand, is managed by the Mars subsidiary Wrigley. During World War II, Wrigley sold its namesake gum only to soldiers, while Orbit was available to the public. Though discontinued shortly after the war, Orbit returned to the U.S. market about 30 years later.
Franklin Clarence Mars, who learned to hand-dip candy from his mother, began selling candy at age 19. He founded the Mars Candy Factory on June 23, 1911, with his second wife, Ethel V. Mars, in Tacoma, Washington. The factory produced and sold fresh candy wholesale, but ultimately failed due to competition from the more established Brown & Haley. By 1920, Mars returned to his home state of Minnesota, where the earliest version of today’s Mars company was founded that year as Mar-O-Bar Co. in Minneapolis, later incorporated there as Mars, Incorporated.
In 1923, Forrest Mars Sr., Frank’s son from his first marriage to Ethel G. Mars, discussed his father’s business struggles with him at a soda fountain. Inspired by his drink, Forrest suggested basing a candy bar on a chocolate malted milk milkshake. Frank took the idea, using neglected Minneapolis nougat, and introduced the Milky Way bar, advertised as a “chocolate malted milk in a candy bar.” It became the best-selling candy bar. In 1929, Frank moved the company to Chicago and began full production in a plant still in use. In 1930, he created the Snickers bar, first sold in U.S. markets, and in 1932 introduced the 3 Musketeers bar.
That same year, Forrest Mars received a check from his father and the foreign rights to market the Milky Way. He moved to Great Britain and founded his own company, Mars Limited, in Slough. The Mars bar launched there with great success, and he expanded his company over the following decades.
After Frank Mars died in 1934, company ownership went to his widow’s family. Ethel V. Mars served as president, but her half-brother, William Kruppenbacher, ran daily operations. Gradually, Forrest Mars, who ran his own Mars company in Britain, took control of his father’s Chicago company by 1964 and merged the two entities into one Mars.
Mars moved its headquarters to McLean, Virginia, in 1984. In 2001, it purchased the Lucas candy company, but Lucas was discontinued in 2004 after high levels of lead were found in its candies. The 2007 purchase of Doane Petcare Company significantly boosted Mars’s position in the U.S. dry pet food market. Mars also operates a chain of premium chocolate shops called Ethel M Chocolates, stemming from the Ethel M premium chocolate business Forrest Mars started in Las Vegas in 1980 after becoming bored with retirement.
From May 1, 2007, many Mars products made in the UK became unsuitable for vegetarians after the company switched to whey made with animal rennet (a byproduct of veal) instead of microbial rennet, affecting products like Mars, Twix, Snickers, Maltesers, Bounty, Minstrels, and Milky Way. Consumer protests, including a campaign by the Vegetarian Society, generated extensive press and led Mars to abandon the change shortly afterward, switching back to all-vegetarian sources in the UK.
In 2008, Mars and the BelGroup conducted research that revived the slogan “Work, Rest & Play,” packaged and led the global launch of the Mars Refuel Sports drink, and initiated a sponsorship program called “The Mars Refuel Drink Fund.” On April 28, 2008, Mars, together with Berkshire Hathaway, announced the $23 billion all-cash buyout of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, the world’s largest chewing gum producer. The combined companies generated over $30 billion in sales that year. Mars’s U.S. confectionery division, Masterfoods USA (formerly M&M Mars), was merged into Wrigley, and its chocolate products were reorganized into the new subsidiary Mars Chocolate North America, LLC.
In September 2011, the company published its Principles in Action communication, outlining Mars’s history, its commitment to five principles, and its goal of putting those principles into action to benefit people and the planet through performance. The communication covered themes of Health and Nutrition, Supply Chain, Operations, and Products.
- founder
- Franklin Clarence Mars
- headquarters
- McLean, Virginia, United States
- industry
- Confectionery, pet food, other food products, animal care services
- annual_sales_2022
- US$45 billion
- ownership
- Privately held by the Mars family
- known_for
- Mars bars, M&M's, Snickers, Skittles, Pedigree, Whiskas
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Franklin Clarence Mars began selling candy at age nineteen. The earliest incarnation of the present-day company was founded in 1920 as the Mar-O-Bar Co. in Minneapolis, later incorporated as Mars, Incorporated. A pivotal moment came in 1923 when his son, Forrest Mars Sr., suggested creating a candy bar based on a chocolate malted milk milkshake, which led to the Milky Way bar. Advertised as a “chocolate malted milk in a candy bar,” it became the best-selling candy bar of its time. The company moved its headquarters to McLean, Virginia, in 1984. Mars is a privately held company entirely owned by the Mars family, with annual sales of US$45 billion in 2022, ranking as the fourth-largest privately held company in the United States that year. It operates four global subsidiaries: Snacking (headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with U.S. offices in Hackettstown and Newark, New Jersey), Petcare (Zaventem, Belgium; Poncitlán and Querétaro, Mexico), Food (Rancho Dominguez, California), and Mars Edge (Germantown, Maryland), the life sciences division. The company is known for confectionery items such as Mars bars, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, M&M’s, Skittles, Snickers, Twix, and Bounty, as well as non-confectionery snacks like Combos, and other foods including Ben’s Original and Dolmio pasta sauce. Its pet food brands include Pedigree, Whiskas, Nutro, and Royal Canin. In 2008, Mars partnered with Berkshire Hathaway to buy the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company for $23 billion.
Reader's Guide
Mars, Incorporated, a privately held American multinational founded in 1911, is best known for its globally iconic confectionery brands such as M&M's, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, Skittles, and Mars bars, as well as non-confectionery snacks like Combos and foods including Ben's Original and Dolmio. Its pet care division, featuring Pedigree, Whiskas, Nutro, and Royal Canin, is a major market force, and the company also operates a chain of premium chocolate shops called Ethel M Chocolates. The company’s history is rooted in the innovations of founder Franklin Clarence Mars, who created the Milky Way bar in 1923 after his son suggested a chocolate malted milk milkshake-inspired candy, followed by Snickers and 3 Musketeers. After Frank’s death, his son Forrest Mars Sr., who had built a separate Mars company in Britain, took control of the American firm in 1964 and merged the two entities. Mars moved its headquarters to McLean, Virginia, in 1984. A major strategic acquisition occurred in 2008 when Mars, together with Berkshire Hathaway, bought the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company for $23 billion, merging its U.S. confectionery division into Wrigley. The company’s Five Principles guide its operations, focusing on performance and sustainability, and it has demonstrated responsiveness to consumer concerns, as when it reversed a 2007 decision to use animal rennet in UK products after protests from vegetarians. With $45 billion in annual sales in 2022, Mars is the fourth-largest privately held company in the United States, operating through four global subsidiaries: Snacking, Petcare, Food, and Mars Edge, its life sciences division.
Did You Know?
- The Milky Way bar was inspired by a chocolate malted milk milkshake and became the best-selling candy bar.
Origins & the Birth of Iconic Bars
Franklin Clarence Mars learned to hand-dip candy from his mother and was selling confections on the street by his nineteenth year. On June 23, 1911, he and his second wife, Ethel V. Mars, opened the Mars Candy Factory in Tacoma, Washington, producing fresh candy for wholesale. The venture collapsed, however, because the more established Brown & Haley already dominated the local market. By 1920, Mars had returned to his home state of Minnesota, where he founded Mar-O-Bar Co. in Minneapolis—the earliest form of the company that would eventually become Mars, Incorporated. The defining creative moment came in 1923 at a soda fountain. His son Forrest, discussing the family's business troubles, glanced at his malted-milk drink and suggested his father build a candy bar around that flavor. Frank seized on the idea, folded in the locally available but underused Minneapolis nougat, and launched the Milky Way, marketed as a chocolate malted-milk bar. It became the best-selling candy bar of its era. Within a decade, Snickers (1930) and 3 Musketeers (1932) joined the lineup, cementing the brand's place in American confectionery history.
A Portfolio That Spans the Aisle
Few food companies command as wide a shelf presence as Mars. Its confectionery lineup alone includes Mars bars, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, M&M's, Skittles, Snickers, Twix, and Bounty—names that are practically household vocabulary in the English-speaking world. Beyond chocolate, the company produces non-confectionery snacks like Combos, prepared foods such as Ben's Original and the pasta-sauce brand Dolmio, and a deep bench of pet-food labels including Pedigree, Whiskas, Nutro, and Royal Canin. Through its Wrigley subsidiary, Mars also manages Orbit gum, a brand with a storied past: during World War II, Wrigley's eponymous gum was reserved for military personnel while Orbit was sold to civilians. Though Orbit was briefly abandoned after the war, it returned to American shelves roughly three decades later and is now among the most popular gum brands in the portfolio. Rounding out the family of brands, Ethel M Chocolates operates a chain of premium chocolate shops, an outgrowth of the luxury chocolate business that Forrest Mars Sr. launched in Las Vegas in 1980 after growing restless during retirement.
Corporate Architecture & Global Reach
Mars, Incorporated is entirely owned by the Mars family and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington metropolitan area. In 2022 the company reported annual sales of $45 billion, earning a Forbes ranking as the fourth-largest privately held company in the United States. Operationally, the business is organized into four global subsidiaries. Snacking is headquartered in Chicago, with additional U.S. bases in Hackettstown and Newark, New Jersey. Petcare runs from Zaventem, Belgium, and two Mexican locations in Poncitlán, Jalisco, and Querétaro. The Food division is based in Rancho Dominguez, California, while Mars Edge, the life-sciences arm, operates out of Germantown, Maryland. The company's growth has been fueled in part by strategic acquisitions. In 2001 Mars bought the Lucas candy company, though that brand was discontinued in 2004 after high levels of lead were detected in its products. The purchase of Doane Petcare in June 2007 substantially strengthened Mars's position in the U.S. dry pet-food market. Then, in April 2008, Mars and Berkshire Hathaway announced a $23 billion all-cash buyout of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, the world's largest chewing-gum producer, a deal that combined two companies generating more than $30 billion in combined 2008 sales.
Controversies, Comebacks & Cultural Moments
Mars has not been immune to public scrutiny. In 2007, the company announced that many of its UK confectionery products—including Mars, Twix, Snickers, Maltesers, Bounty, Minstrels, and Milky Way—would switch from microorganism-derived rennet to whey containing animal rennet, a byproduct of veal production. The move rendered those bars unsuitable for vegetarians and triggered a coordinated protest led by the Vegetarian Society, which urged UK vegetarians to register formal complaints. The resulting media storm was intense enough that Mars reversed course within a short period, committing to all-vegetarian ingredients in the UK market. On the positive side, 2008 saw Mars partner with theBelGroup to revive the classic "Work, Rest & Play" slogan, packaging it around the global launch of the Mars Refuel Sports drink and a sponsorship initiative called The Mars Refuel Drink Fund. In September 2011, the company published its Principles in Action communication, a document laying out its Five Principles, its business divisions—including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks, and Symbioscience—and its stated targets for improving health, nutrition, and supply-chain sustainability. The same era also saw Mars spend more than $1.8 million on lobbying in 2008, the bulk of it channeled through the firm Patton Boggs.
Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Mars Inc.'s most recognizable products?
The brand is best known for its candy lineup—Mars bars, M&M's, Snickers, and Skittles—alongside major pet-food lines such as Pedigree and Whiskas. Beyond those flagship names, the company also supplies a broad catalog of other food items and animal-care services.
Who owns Mars Inc. and has it ever been publicly traded?
The entire company is held by the Mars family, meaning no outside shareholders or public investors have a stake in it. It has never issued stock on any exchange, which keeps it one of the largest privately owned corporations in the world.
Where is Mars Inc. headquartered?
Corporate operations are run from McLean, Virginia, in the United States. Despite manufacturing and selling products on every continent, the family keeps its central management in that Virginia suburb.
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