A comprehensive background of Mars containing its History and Origins, Early Evolution, Modern Business, Global Expansion, Company Structure, Recent Efforts and Company DNA. As one of the chapters of the book FMCG: The Power of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods by authors Greg Thain and John Bradley. For more details on their success story and that of other leading FMCG companies, check www.fmcgbook.com or Amazon http://amzn.to/1jRyd20.
3. Founded by Franklin Clarence Mars and his son, Forrest Edward Mars.
In 1902, Frank ran a wholesale candy firm in the Minneapolis/St Paul area but
it was not a success.
By 1910, he moved to Seattle to set up again but within a year he lost
everything.
In 1914, his third candy business in Tacoma, Washington went bankrupt.
He landed back in Minneapolis, where he sunk his last $400 into yet another
candy-making venture, the Mar-O-Bar Co. and hit on a winner with Victorian
Butter Creams.
In 1924, they produced a chocolate bar named Milky Way and their business
grossed a staggering $800,000
3
4. 4
By 1928, Mar-O-Bar Co. was relocated to Chicago and a year after, they had a
much bigger factory crammed with new equipment in which they could
produce twenty million Milky Way bars a year.
In 1930, Frank invented the Snickers bar and in 1932, Three Musketeers,
pushing company sales to $25 million.
Mars was substantially big at this point and the relationship between father
and son eroded, Frank kicked Forrest out and gave him $50,000 and the
foreign rights to Milky Way. Fifteen months later Frank was dead from a heart
attack.
5. 5
In 1933, Forrest moved his family to Switzerland and took hourly jobs on the
factory floors of Jean Tobler and then Nestlé to learn for himself the secrets
of Swiss chocolate-making.
Come August 1933, Forrest made a deal with Cadbury’s industrial sales
department to supply him with their chocolate and the first Mars Bars
appeared on the shelves
In 1934, Forrest bought Chapple Brothers, a struggling British dog food
company, the second leg of the future Mars Empire
In 1939, Mars Ltd was Britain’s third-largest chocolate company behind
Cadbury and Rowntree’s
That same year, the Second World War intervened and Forrest returned to
the US
6. 6
By 1940, a joint venture between Frank and Hershey’s president’s son was
sealed, creating M&M’s - Mars & Murrie, M&Ms Ltd.
In 1944, Uncle Ben’s Rice was launched with the help of advertising guru Leo
Burnett
By 1954, M&M’s tagline “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands” was
hammered into the nation’s brains by the M&M’s cartoon characters
By 1956, M&M’s was the best-selling chocolate product in America, grossing
$40 million a year
7. 7
UK
The US’ best-sellers, Snickers and M&M’s, were launched in United Kingdom
under the names of Marathon and Treets, and were joined by Topic, Twix,
Spangles, Tunes and Lockets.
In 1979, they launched the two-piece canned pet food and by late 1990’s
they switched to pouches.
Western Europe
In 1951, the first Mars Bar hit France followed by imports of dog and cat food
brands in 1959.
In 1961, the West German sales office for chocolate products opened
In 1993, exports of pet foods in New Zealand had gone so well that Mars
purchased a pet food factory there to ramp up production
Mars is by far the dominant pet food manufacturer in Australia and New
Zealand, with around 50% market share
8. 8
Australia/New Zealand
In 1954, Mars signed a deal with MacRobertson’s, Cadbury’s main competitor
in Australia
In 1965, they launched Pal and Whiskas in Australia and build a pet food
factory the next year.
Purchased Masterfoods a local maker of herbs and spices
Eastern Europe
Mars chocolate products appeared in Hungary in 1989
In 1991, food and pet products were added to the distribution network
A chocolate factory opened in the summer of 1995 for the cost of $140
million and produced nine different products. A pet food factory opened the
same year.
By 2012, the company had nine factories supplying Russia and the rest of the
CIS.
9. 9
China
In 1990, the company opened its first sales office and decided to focus on
M&M’s.
By 1996, M&M’s were not driving enough profit so they switched to the
Dove chocolate bar
By 2005, Snickers and M&M’s took a more prominent position and Mars was
the clear market leader
The company now has four factories in China, two for pet foods and two for
chocolate, supplying the ever-growing Chinese market and also exporting to
other Asian countries
Middle East
In 1998, Mars opened their first chocolate factory in Dubai to service the
entire Middle East
By 2013, a new factory in Saudi Arabia was opened
10. 10
Latin America
In 1995, the first factory in Mexico was opened
In 2002, they bought Lucas World, another candy manufacturer
Mars is now market leader in both pet food and confectionery in Mexico
11. 11
By the end of the 1950s, the Chicago plant had been expanded
Forrest bought Thomas’s, a firm that made all manner of pet accessories: dog
leads, fish and budgerigar food amongst them
In 1955, he set up a British drinks vending company, Four Square.
In 1959, they launched Whiskas.
In 1966, Mars bought the Kal Kan firm
In the mid-1970s, Hershey was finally overtaken, whilst in the UK, Mars would
soon be on the verge of overhauling both Cadbury and Rowntree’s
The US pet business moved to adopt UK recipes and brand names such as
Pedigree and Whiskas.
Mars sponsored the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and this was a success in
US businesses
Outside the US, Snickers was known as Marathon and M&M’s as Treets
12. 12
Changing brand names that had been around for decades was a bold and
forward-thinking move, but in other areas the business had become a lot
more cautious under the new regime.
In 1982, Mars had passed up the chance to have M&M’s feature in the film
ET
Mars had been offered first refusal on the Cadbury deal but had declined.
In 1986, they purchased Dove Bar International Inc., makers of a hand-dipped
ice cream bar.
In 1989, Mars Inc. switched track on new product development on differently
flavored brand extensions. The same year their Dove subsidiary launched ice
cream versions of 3Musketeers, Snickers and Milky Way.
In 1997, Mars purchased Seeds of Change, an organic seed company.
13. 13
The global head office has always been a tiny affair with fewer than 100 staff
There are only six levels of management between the factory floor and the
family members themselves.
In the early 1990s, management experimented with combining the various
product sectors into single organisations by country, but it was not a success
and was quietly abandoned in the larger markets.
In 2001, Mars created a formal Board of Directors – all family members
together with a small number of outside advisers
The original four divisions - Petcare, Chocolate, Food and Drinks - have more
recently been joined by Wrigley.
14. 14
2002
Wrigley’s bid of $12.5 billion
2006
Doane Petcare company, a largely private label company but with excellent
manufacturing and distribution set-up that could be immediately deployed
to improve the Kal Kan operation
2007
Added Nutro Products Inc., a manufacturer of high-nutrition, high-performance
natural dog and cat foods
Mars’ pet foods major product recall
2009
Another major product recall by the quality-obsessed Mars management
2013
Mars has committed to shipping no chocolate products that exceed 250
calories per portion
15. 15
The Five Principles of Mars
Quality
The consumer is our boss, quality is our work and value for money is our goal.
Responsibility
As individuals, we demand total responsibility from ourselves; as associates, we
support the responsibilities of others.
Mutuality
A mutual benefit is a shared benefit; a shared benefit will endure.
Efficiency
We only use resources to the full, waste nothing and do only what we can do
best.
Freedom
We need freedom to shape our future; we need profit to remain free.
16. 16
Mars Inc. has annual sales of over $30 billion, operates 401 factories and
offices in 73 countries and employs over 70,000 associates.
The company has eleven brands with annual sales revenues of over $1 billion
(Pedigree $4.7bn, Snickers $3.6bn, M&M’s $3.5bn, Whiskas $2.8bn, Dove
$2.6bn, Orbit $2.5bn, Milky Way/Mars Bar $2.4bn, Extra $2.2bn, Uncle Ben’s
$1.6bn, Royal Canin $1.5bn, Twix $1.5bn).
Over 90% of company sales come from three categories: Pet Care,
Confectionery and Gum. It is the world’s largest confectionery company,
Snickers and M&M’s are the world’s best-selling confectionery products.
It is probably fair to say that the business model developed by Forrest Mars
Senior and the brands developed by successors Frank and Forrest have been
resounding successes.