The site reviewer has studied more than a century of the history of Mars Corporation, which created several world-famous brands of sweets and pet food.

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Mars, Snickers, M&M's, Milky Way, Skittles - that's just small list sweets produced by the Mars Corporation. Treats for animals are also produced here: Chappie, KiteKat, Whiskas and Pedigree. Control over one of the world leaders in the production of sweets still belongs to the Mars family, from which the history of the company began.

Franklin Mars. Milky Way and early successes

The history of Mars began with a humble candy salesman named Franklin Mars. He was born in 1883 in the town of Hancock. As a child, Franklin contracted polio, stopped going to school, and spent time at home watching his mother make sweets.

At the age of 19, Mars started working as a hawker selling sweets, and even thought about starting his own business. In 1902, Franklin Mars married Ethel Kissack. In 1910, the couple divorced, and Ethel and her son moved to another city. There is a version that the marriage fell apart due to Franklin's unsuccessful attempt to open his own business.

The first official business of Franklin Mars was started in 1911: together with his new wife, also named Ethel, he created a small enterprise for the production and sale of sweets. The company was officially registered and named Mar-o-Bar.

Because Franklin's first and second wives were namesakes, there is confusion over exactly when the company was started. The most logical option is considered to be 1911, but it is possible that Franklin tried to open a business earlier. There is also a version that the company was called differently - Mars Candy.

The home kitchen of the Marses became the workshop of the company and at the same time outlet, and the window of their house is a kind of counter. Sweets were readily accepted. Most sources emphasize that Mars went bankrupt three times before succeeding, but the reasons for the failures are unknown.

A breakthrough awaited the company in the early 1920s. Mars moved to Minneapolis and opened the Mar-o-Bar Company. In 1922, the Mar-o-Bar was created, and in 1923, Milky Way chocolates appeared. There is a legend about how Franklin Mars came up with this idea. One day, while walking with his son Forrest, he bought him chocolate. Chocolate bars were then sold only by weight and literally melted in the hands of customers. During a walk, Mars noticed this and soon came up with the idea of ​​​​making chocolate in a foil wrapper.

According to another version of events, it was not about the foil - just one day Forrest Mars drank a chocolate cocktail and suggested that his father make a bar from this drink. He registered the Milky Way trademark, and in 1923 a bar of the same name appeared on sale, which captivated buyers. The official website of Mars says that the creation of the Milky Way was preceded by three years of research.

The success of Milky Way was largely due to non-trivial advertising, with many researchers claiming that Forrest came up with it. Milky Way was introduced as a candy bar that doesn't sink. The advertisement depicted a fat man who escaped from a shipwreck and was saved from drowning by eating a few Milky Ways.

In 1923, the composition of Snickers was developed, but its production will not begin until seven years later. The bar was named after Franklin Mars' favorite horse.

In 1924, the company, which had suffered a loss of $6,000 two years earlier, reached a turnover of $700,000. Milky Way has become one of the most popular sweets in the United States, which has increased production capacity. It was decided to build a new Mars plant in the suburbs of Chicago. In 1926, the company on Mars Candies. On the wave of popularity, Franklin Mars increased production turnover and introduced new types of products even during the Great Depression.

In 1928, Forrest Mars began working for his father's company. They say that the role model for Mars Jr. was John Davison Rockefeller. At the same time, he believed that it was possible and necessary to earn more than Rockefeller, and from a young age he aspired to this. In the future, this ambitious man would make Mars a huge corporation, but in the late 1920s he remained in the shadow of Franklin, and a conflict was brewing between them.

main reason misunderstanding between father and son, many call different views on the development of the company. Franklin seemed to just want to live comfortably, but Forrest hoped to enter the international market. In addition, Mars Jr. often challenged his father's decisions and believed that he was leading irrationally. The situation became more and more tense, and it all ended with Forrest moving to the UK.

According to the most popular version, one of the quarrels ended with Forrest delivering an ultimatum: either he gets a third of his father's company, or he leaves. Franklin told his son to leave, but left him with nothing, giving him the right to produce Milky Way in Europe and $50,000.

Forrest Mars activities. Mars and M&M's bars and Uncle Ben's rice

After leaving the United States, Mars continued to engage in the confectionery business and allegedly even used family recipes to create unique products. Soon he organized his small production in the city of Slow. At first, only a few people worked here, and Forrest bought chocolate from other manufacturers. This approach continued until the company's turnover increased. Her first famous product was the Mars bar.

To promote the new product, an original marketing campaign. Times were hard, people were reluctant to spend money on chocolate, and Forrest Mars decided that it was not sweetness that should be sold, but its benefits. Mars was advertised as an energizing product made from healthy and nutritious ingredients - and the bar became one of the top sellers in the European market.

There is another version, according to which Forrest Mars became interested in instant rice when he moved to the UK. It was there that he read about Erich Hatzenlaub and the rice steaming method named after him. Thanks to the discovery of the scientist, nutrients were preserved in rice, it was stored for a long time and was quickly prepared.

Hatzenlaub created the Rice Conversation company, and then Forrest Mars came to him, admiring the achievements of the scientist. Mars financed Hatzenlaub's move to the US, and in Houston they formed Mars and Huzenlaub together. Later, Mars invested in a new company, Converted Rice, which was engaged in the production and sale of instant rice. It was led by Hatzenlaub and broker Gordon Harwell.

original idea attracted the attention of the government, and Converted Rice received a large order. After the war, new varieties of rice appeared in the product line, and the brand became extremely popular in the American market. In 1952, Converted Rice became the market leader in instant rice. In 1959, Forrest Mars will become the sole owner of the company, and it will officially change its name to Uncle Ben's.

Franklin Clarence Mars (Franklin Clarence Mars; 1883 - 1934) - American entrepreneur. Founder of the confectionery company Mars Incorporated, known for its chocolates and bars.

Mars was born on September 24, 1883 in Hancock, Minnesota, USA. His family was poor and Mars was never able to get an education due to an illness that befell him in early childhood, polio, as a result of which he could not move independently. While his peers were in school, he spent all his time at home, or to be more precise, in the kitchen, where his mother prepared all kinds of sweets for further sale. Soon the whole cooking process was thoroughly studied by young Franklin and, importantly, he liked it all. It was at this time that he firmly decided that he would make sweets and earn a living from this. When he was 19 years old, in 1902, Mars began to make and sell candies with his own hands. Thus began the birth of today's largest corporation for the production of all kinds of sweets. In the same year, Mars married a school teacher, Ethel Kissack. In 1904, Franklin and Ethel had a son, Forrest Mars. They later divorced and Mars remarried Ethel Veronica Healy in 1910.

Franklin Mars failed three times in business and started again without losing hope. Working as a hired worker, he was quite successfully promoted and began to earn good money, allowing himself to buy own house. His wife Ethel became his most important business partner. Still, Mars left his wage job to start his own business in 1911. He and his wife began to prepare sweets and sell them directly from the kitchen window of his house on the first floor, overlooking the street. It should be noted that the popularity of Mars candies was very high.

In 1920, the Mars moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the Mar-O-Bar Co. was founded. and began the production of chocolate bars. His son Forrest gave him the idea for a new bar, which came to life under the name Milky Way. During the Great Depression 1929-1933. When, due to massive production cuts and layoffs, Franklin was selling Milky Way bars for 5 cents a piece, thanks to which he was able to keep his business up and keep demand at the proper level. The bar became such an innovative idea in the confectionery business that it had a wide popularity, which only increased over time. By this time, Mars already had his own factory in the suburbs of Chicago, thanks to which he could satisfy the ever-increasing demand for products for the time being.

Over time, new products of the company began to appear - the Mars Almond bar, Musketeers, as well as the now world-famous Snickers chocolate bar, which appeared in 1930. By this time, Franklin Mars' company was already called Mars Incorporated. New factories were being built, the range of products that were in great demand was expanding, and annual turnover the company after 1924 already amounted to more than 700 thousand dollars.

In the late 1920s, Franklin Mars became seriously interested in horse racing and bought several farms in Pulaski, Tennessee, and also built his own Milky Way Farms ranch - a Milky Way farm. Mars hired 935 workers from Giles County to build the farm. The total area of ​​the ranch was 25,000 feet 2 (2300 m 2) on which there were 30 horse barns, a ring strip for racing, and an exhibition pavilion for horses. This business of Mars, as a confectionery business, also became quite successful. Sadly, Mars never lived to see the day when one of his farm's horses, Gallahedion, won the Kentucky Derby in 1940.

Franklin Mars died on April 8, 1934 of heart and kidney failure at his Milky Way Farms where he was buried by his wife Ethel, and a few years later the body was moved to the city of Minneapolis in the private crypt of the Mars family at Lakewood Cemetery.

Mysteriousness, mystery, plus the location of the office next to the headquarters of the CIA. Perhaps the latter influenced the closeness of Mars - the founders and owners never aspired to personal fame. It is also worth noting that the company itself has always been private, the owners did not even have any talk of any IPO. And the beginning of the history of Mars was laid by Frank Mars.

The roots of the history of Mars go back to the distant 19th century. In 1883, Franklin Clerence (Frank) Mars is born, who became the founder of the chocolate empire. The family in which he grew up was quite poor, so young Frank starts working quite early. At the age of 19, he is already actively involved in the sale of sweets. In part, it was this work that predetermined his future fate.

Frank's talent quickly manifests itself, sales revenue grows and, as a result, Mars itself rises up career ladder. As a result, Frank earns decent money - he was not rich, but he owned his own house and managed to marry a girl named Ethel, who later became his main assistant in business.

Time is steadily passing, Frank is already 28 years old, and the year is 1911 on the calendar. He decides to quit his job and start his own business. Together with his wife, he opens a candy store, which is located right in the house of Mars. Trade was organized, “as they would say today from the counter,” namely through the kitchen window of the house.

Sales grow and reach such figures that the founders in 1911 decide to register their own company called Mar-O-Bar. Frank from the very beginning dreamed of his own business, and this desire slowly began to be realized, allowing him to forget about hired work.

At the very beginning, the assortment of the confectionery shop consisted of sweets with different fillings. Frank comes up with an idea that will later change his whole life, however, the business itself. Once, Mars was walking around the city with his young son, and the son wanted to go to the store, bringing his father with him. Forrest (Frank's son) asked his father to buy him chocolate.

In those years, chocolate was sold only by weight, however, as were Henkel's laundry detergents. For people, this created inconvenience, especially on hot summer days - even if you carefully eat chocolate that quickly melted in the sun, you could get dirty very easily.

At that moment, Frank thought, what if? ... And this "if" was embodied in small slices of chocolate that were wrapped in foil. The idea turned out to be quite interesting and, most importantly, did not require large expenditures for implementation. After talking in the family circle, the family decided to try.

And they tried it, as a result, a chocolate bar called Milky Way becomes a bestseller for a young enterprise in a matter of days. In 1925, the new bar was recognized as the leader in the chocolate market. Sales are growing steadily, and the company is developing further, opening up new markets for the sale of its products.

And a little earlier, in the very beginning of the 1920s, the company acquired its first factory, which was located in the nearest suburban area of ​​Chicago. The staff is slowly growing. And the product line is constantly updated with new products, among which a truly “legend” has appeared - the Snickers bar, which is still quite popular with buyers today.

At this time, the son of Frank - Forrest graduates from Yale University. Having an excellent education, he wants to go into business. Further, there are small discrepancies, or rather several versions of what happened.

According to one version: Forrest went to England, where he opened his own business, not related to his father's grocery. It is believed that it was the father who inspired his son to open his own business.

According to the second version: Relations between father and son deteriorated. As a result, Forrest leaves America to do his own thing again. own business. However, even if this version is to be believed, the son borrowed money from his father to start his own business. And that's not counting the fact that the company of the younger Mars had the exclusive right to manufacture chocolate outside the United States. What does it mean: after all, there was some kind of connection between father and son.

Further, in 1932, Forrest bought a building in the city of Slow to create a factory. A little later, he hires a few employees and begins production. Strange as it may seem, one more of the legendary bars is born at this factory - the Mars bar.

However, things were not as smooth as one might think. At first, it was difficult for Forrest to such an extent that at the very beginning of production, he did not produce his own chocolate - but bought it from the Cadbury company.

Comparing father and son, one can draw two parallels that intersect in places (no wonder). Father and son were engaged in the production of confectionery, but then there are already discrepancies - the son decides to expand the influence of the company by increasing the product line in other types of products.

With his "light hand" the company begins to produce animal feed, today we know them as trademarks Pedigree and Whiskas. And later, Forrest almost made a discovery by inventing M&Ms. It's just a pity - his father Frank will not be able to see this, because in 1934 he dies of heart failure.

Frank Mars invented the famous Milky Way chocolate bar, and his son added to the company's piggy bank the new kind products - M&M sweets. It is interesting that he came up with them at the time when he came to Spain to solve business problems.

Then he noticed that round small chocolates in people melt very quickly in their hands. It is this omission that Forrest corrects by releasing exactly the same sweets, but in a special protective shell. As a result, a new sweet appeared on the market, which was very enthusiastically received by buyers on the market.

The success of M&M amazed the inventor himself, and he decides to reduce the production of the rest of the products, while M&M, on the contrary, increase. Later, the younger Mars decides to change the name of the company to the new M&M Ltd.

Forrest continues to expand its product line by purchasing Uncle Ben's. In those days, Uncle Ben's was a leader among instant rice producers. Owning several brands, the younger Mars visits America more and more often.

In 1964, two companies are merged - father and son. Appears new company under the name M&M/Mars, already at that time striking in its scale of production.

Mars of that time was very similar in design to today's Apple. It was difficult to get the necessary information about the company. However, there is still information about some moves regarding employees:

First, the company had a very strict control over the quality of its products. But still he was not like the Japanese. In addition, when problems Forrest always got personal and openly criticized people. This does not mean that he did not appreciate the employees. On the contrary, he perfectly understood that the development of his company depended to a greater extent on their work, trying to organize for them Better conditions labor.

Second, Forrest created a shared office space by eliminating cabinets and partitions. This had a positive effect on the employees, who felt themselves united - one whole, a team. And this decision gave each employee the opportunity to convey information faster to another person, including the leader himself.

Third: At the end of the 20th century, the company has its own training center, where all employees previously underwent an internship and a training program. This innovation in those days was truly innovative. In general, this is only small part what Forrest Mars did for the company.

Today the company is managed by the third generation of Mars. A little more precisely, the fate of the company depends on Frank's grandchildren, who are: Franklin, Forrest Jr. and John. However, they abandoned the management itself, transferring this role to a hired CEO, Paul Michaels.

In 2007 alone, the company's revenue amounted to $25 billion. In the same year, almost 50,000 people were involved in 175 enterprises of the company.

Mars produces products under well-known brands, which are: Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, M&M, Skittles, Whiskas, Pedigree, Chappy, Royal Canin, Incle Ben’s, Dove Chocolate, Bounty, and others…

And the company itself is represented by goods in three industries: confectionery products, pet food, and finally, Mars has become a pioneer in the sale of vending machines for dispensing drinks that can accept paper money.

Mars is a globally renowned manufacturer of branded products such as SNICKERS®, M&M's®, MILKY WAY® and MALTESERS®. Other well-known brands of this company are WHISKAS®, Pedigree and UNCLE BEN'S®. And although today most of the products are sold in the UK, the company was founded in the USA.

Franklin Claren Mars was born in Minnesota in 1884. As a child, he could not move because of his terrible disease - polio. He spent most of his time at home, watching his mother make chocolate sweets at home. At the age of 19, Franklin had already opened his business and married Ethel G. Kissack. In the future, they had a son, Forrest Edward Mars. But, unfortunately, neither business nor marriage will be successful for Franklin.

In 1910, Franklin married a second time to Ethel W. Healy. And the following year, the family moved into candy buttercream production, which later grew into their first chocolate factory, located in Tacoma, Washington. The company employed 125 people, and candy and chocolate were sold in all stores on the Pacific coast at a price of 5 to 10 cents. But since there were no refrigerators at that time, the sweets had to be made and delivered on the same day.

In 1920, the company moved to a new factory in Minneapolis, where it became known as Nougat House. Shortly after the move, the company changed its name to MAR-O-BAR. And although MAR-O-BAR itself could not really move to a new location, this did not prevent the success of a new branded product called MILKY WAY® in 1923. With help new technology By adding malted milk to chocolate, Mars' annual sales increased from $100,000 to $793,000. The company also had to hire full-time employees.

Dropping the MAR-O-BAR name, Mars relocated to Chicago for the second time. Chicago's railroad tracks have made the company's products available in other cities, including their new SNICKERS® candy bar. Later, Franklin's son, Forrest Mars, decided to reunite with his family and family business. In 1930, Franklin gave Forrest a MILKY WAY® recipe and $50,000 to start own production sweets, because, unfortunately, at that time, father and son could not find a common language. Subsequently, Forest devoted himself international trade, founding a company called Mars Limited, in Slough, UK. With only $50,000, he bought equipment, rented a small factory and hired only 4 workers for his production. But success accompanied the Mars family and soon the MILKY WAY® recipe, as well as MARS®, fell in love with the Europeans, which meant success on the international sweets market. In 1934, after Franklin Mars passed away, his son Forrest took over two world-class companies located in America and Great Britain.

In 1940, another branded product from the Mars company appeared, called M&M's®. Merging production with partner company Hershey Corporation (80/20), Forrest founded a company called M&M Limited, which later became M&M's Candy. The name M&M® comes from the two surnames of Forest Mars and Bruce Murray. Bruce was the son of the founder of the Hershey Corporation, William Murray, and later shared with Forrest the secrets of making chocolate, sugar, and some other technologies. The first M&M® chocolates were made in 1914 and wrapped in paper to keep the chocolate from melting in warm weather. Initially, the candies were brown, yellow, orange, red, green and purple.

M&M's® became especially popular among soldiers because they didn't melt in the heat. During the Second World War, they were even added to the diet of soldiers. In 1945, the Mars company introduced the new slogan "Milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hands." Soon, the Mars company even began to print a small letter "m" on each candy, in order to distinguish themselves from scammers. The main characters of M&M® candy debuted the same year, and to celebrate the release of blue candy sales, the Empire State Building was lit up with blue lights. In 2000, M&M's were officially named "Candy of the New Millennium" because their number was MM 2000.

The Mars company took a deep dive into cooking in 1940, when they introduced many recipes for rice, as well as new technology called steaming. Rice, prepared according to the recipe of the Mars family, was the main dish of soldiers in the US Army in World War II, and after the war, the company became known as UNCLE BEN'S® Inc. Uncle Ben rice became a hit in the US in those years, but even now it remains very popular all over the world.

In 1969, Forrest Mars retired, leaving the business to his sons, Forrest Mars Jr., John Mars and Jacqueline Mars. Forest Mars passed away in 1999 at the age of 96. IN Lately The Mars family also ventured into the pet market, selling items such as Royal Canin Petfoods and NUTRO®. Mars factories are also famous for being impeccably clean in terms of sanitary and hygienic standards. In 2005, Mars began supplying snack and drink vending machines to the UK, France and Germany.

Mars Business Relationships

Mars is a private company that rarely talks to the press and the media mass media. This is the kind of company that prefers people to talk about their products rather than their family. The secret of the success of this company is simply legendary, so rumors often circulate around their family, culinary abilities are discussed, as well as many other factors that accompany the success of the company. It is worth noting that the business structure of the Mars family is quite original, as the company does not have offices for the main executives, as well as there are no special parking spaces intended for them. For the company, the position does not matter, all the employees of the company just get together, sit down at the same table and agree on how to improve production.
The basis of managing the Mars company consists of 5 rules:

Quality: "Customer is our boss, quality is our job, value for money is our goal"

Responsibility: » As human beings, we demand full responsibility Push; as partners, we support the responsibility of others"

Reciprocity: “Mutual benefit is common benefit, and common benefit is always lasting”

Efficiency: "We use all resources, save nothing and do only what we can do well"

Freedom: We need freedom to see our future; we need profit to stay free"
Although Mars remains a family business, its sales are constantly growing and there are more than 40,000 employees on the staff. With the right marketing plan, innovative new products, and partnerships with other companies, Mars has become an industrial giant. With over $20 billion in worldwide product sales in 2006 alone, Mars will continue to grow and prosper for years to come.

Mars is one of the most mysterious on the American business Olympus. Although its revenues are in the billions of dollars, and the product portfolio contains more than 10 famous brands, each of which could be built around separate business The company continues to be privately held to this day. Key roles in today's Mars are still played by members of the famous family, who are the grandchildren of the founder of the company.

The status of a private company, or perhaps the location near the headquarters of the CIA, led to the fact that Mars has always been a closed company. Its founders never aspired to personal fame, and to show off on the cover of Forbes (however, this does not prevent them from being included in the top 100 richest people in the United States according to the well-known magazine). Such closeness gave rise to a lot of rumors circulating around the company. Many have claimed that the CEO, Forrest Mars, makes daily rounds during which he tastes all Mars products, including pet food! Be that as it may, it is worth lifting the veil of secrecy over Mars by talking about this company.

Foundation of the company

1. The history of Mars goes back to the 19th century. In 1883, the future founder of the chocolate giant, Franklin Clerence (Frank) Mars, was born. Frank's parents lived quite poorly, so he had to grow up early, going to work. At the age of 19, he was already selling sweets with might and main. It was from that moment that he entered the industry, which determined his whole life. Gradually, Frank rose through the ranks, and eventually earned quite decent money. No, he certainly did not live richly, but he had his own house and married a girl named Ethel, who would become his main business partner.

2. At the age of 28, Frank leaves his job and decides to start his own business. Together with his wife, they start selling sweets, opening their own candy store right in their house. All trade went through the kitchen window of the Mars family. Sales began to grow rapidly and the couple founded companies called Mar-O-Bar. It happened in 1911. Frank's dream of owning his own business, which would allow him to forget about hired work once and for all, began to come true.

3. In general, at that time, the main assortment of the Mars confectionery family was various sweets with a wide variety of fillings. The idea that changed Frank's whole life came to him quite by accident. One day he went with his son to the store. Forrest (that was the name of little Mars) asked his father to buy him chocolate. At that time, chocolate was sold only by weight. It was, to put it mildly, not very convenient. Clients quickly got dirty with it. It was at that moment that Frank thought, why not start selling small pieces of chocolate wrapped in foil? The idea seemed promising to him. After talking with his wife, he came to the conclusion that it was worth a try. We tried. The Milky Way bar became a hit in a matter of days. By 1925, Milky Way would be the recognized market leader. Sales will begin to grow annually, and the company will discover more and more new markets.

4. In the 20s, Mars will have its own factory in the suburbs of Chicago. The staff of the company will begin to grow. All this will result in the emergence of new products, among which will be the legendary Snickers chocolate bar, which is still one of the flagships. product line Mars.
Meanwhile, Forrest Mars is graduating from Yale University. Having received an excellent education, he was about to enter the world of business. Here there are certain differences regarding what happened. The fact is that historians do not have a common opinion regarding this time. It is known that Forrest went to England, where he took up his own business not affiliated with Mars. According to one version, it was his father who suggested that he try his hand and create his own business from scratch. But there is another version, according to which the relationship between father and son seriously escalated, and as a result, Forrest left the United States to start his own business. Be that as it may, Forrest started with his father's money (not counting the fact that Mars Jr.'s company received the exclusive right to produce Milky Way chocolate outside of America). And this suggests that the father and son maintained some kind of connection, even if the second theory is correct.

5. In 1932, Forrest Mars purchased a factory in Slow. After hiring a few employees, he starts production. It was at this factory that another legendary bar would subsequently be born, in no way inferior in popularity to Snickers - Forrest would call it Mars. It is worth noting that the first steps in the production of chocolate bars were not easy for Forrest. He even had to abandon the idea of ​​developing his own chocolate at first. Instead, he partnered with the Cadbury company.

6. Unlike his father, Forrest was not only obsessed with confectionery. He was not at all alien to the idea of ​​differentiation. There is nothing surprising in the fact that it was with his light hand that pet food, such as Whiskas and Pedigree, appeared in the company's assortment. But Forrest's main discovery will appear a little later - it will be the now popular M&M sweets. It is a pity that Mars Sr. will no longer see this success of his son, since in 1934 he will leave this world. He will die of heart failure.

"Melts in your mouth, not in your hands"

1. If Forrest's father invented the famous Milky Way chocolate bar, then his son owns the equally famous M&M sweets. The idea came to Forrest at the moment when he came to Spain to solve some problems related to his business. There he saw the sweets that became the prototype of M&M. The problem with most chocolates of that time was that they quickly melted in the hands. Especially on hot summer days.

2. This problem was solved by Forrest Mars with the help of a special protective shell, which covered all M&M sweets. Thus, a sweet appeared, which consumers, tired of melting chocolate in their hands, dreamed of for a very long time. Needless to say, M&M overnight becomes the staple of the Forrest Mars company. At the same time, his success was so great that Mars Jr. decided to change the name of the company to M&M Ltd.

3. The next major step for Mars was the purchase of Uncle Ben's. It was another important move in terms of diversification. At that time, Uncle Ben's was one of the leaders in the instant rice market. With such a strong assortment of goods, Forrest began to visit America more and more often. And in 1964, he merged his company with his father's brainchild. The M&M/Mars company appeared, which already then amazed with its power, and the number of successful brands in product portfolio. However, there was no talk of any entry into the stock exchange. Forrest believed that the company should remain family property. At least until his death, talking about selling at least some part of the company was pointless.

4. Of course, Forrest's return to Mars was covered in all the business magazines of the time. It was truly a significant event for all of America. It is unfortunate that Forrest took such a step so late. The thing is that in the early 30s, his father really wanted the young Mars to return to the company, but he refused. This was very disappointing for Frank, as dying he was still in some disagreement with his son. However, in the end, Forrest returned and led the company on a new course to new heights.

A revolution in management

1. Forrest Mars never advertised his wealth. He didn't like being talked about too much. He did not like to show off on the covers of business magazines. He was engrossed in his work, but completely uninterested in the attendant fame. In its device, Mars of that time very much resembled the modern Apple. It was difficult to get at least some information about the company. However, there are some revolutionary moves that Mars has made regarding its employees.

2. First, Mars had a very strict control over product quality. Of course, while it was not delivered as well as the Japanese, but the quality was monitored at Mars. At the same time, Forrest always got personal when certain problems appeared. He openly criticized certain employees. However, this does not mean that he did not appreciate the employees. Not at all! He was well aware that the fate of his company depended on them, and tried to organize the best conditions for them.

3. Second important point was that Mars abandoned personal accounts and any partitions separating employees from each other. This was done on purpose so that employees could feel like a team. In addition, this move allowed everyone to convey information much faster to another person, including the leader. Today, organizing work in this way is very popular (one office of the Sup company, which owns LiveJournal, is worth something).

4. Finally, it is worth noting that the company has its own employee training center. This happened in the middle of the 20th century, and was truly a revolutionary innovation. In general, this is only a small part of what Forrest Mars did for the company. Today Mars belongs to the third generation of the family. To be more precise, her fate is decided by Frank's grandchildren - Jacqueline, Forrest Jr. and John. At the same time, they moved away from the direct management of the company. CEO Mars is a salaried manager Paul Michaels.

5. What is surprising is that Mars is still a private company. Possibly the largest private company in the world. Judge for yourself, the company's income for 2007 amounted to 25 billion dollars. According to data for the same year, 48 thousand people worked in the company. Mars owns world-famous brands in three industries: confectionery, animal food, rice (looking ahead, I note that there is one more, which is just below). I think you all know brands such as Milky Way, M&M, Twix, Skittles, Snickers, Whiskas, Chappy, Pedigree, Incle Ben's, Dove Chocolate, Bounty, Royal Canin and many others that are just pointless to list.
Finally, Mars was the first to introduce beverage dispensers that were capable of accepting paper money. This is another area of ​​the company's activities that few people know about. However, this does not prevent the machines from bringing solid profits to the Mars piggy bank.

Mars today

1. Today, the brand is trying to keep up with modern trends, and is making every effort to use high tech in their promotion, and at the same time to present their products as more beneficial to health (yes, Mars refuses many harmful ingredients). In terms of technology, Mars was the first company to start selling real goods through social network Facebook. The bottom line was that any Facebook member could give his friend or girlfriend a Mars chocolate bar. To do this, you just had to pay for a chocolate bar and indicate the recipient. A special code was sent to mobile phone, presenting which in special partner stores of Mars and Facebook, he could get a chocolate bar.

2. The company also paid attention to another popular social network called MySpace. It earned the official radio station Mars, which was supposed to attract the attention of young people. At the same time, it is interesting that the company has relied on beginner groups that can quickly promote themselves with the help of this station.
Well, if we talk about sports, then Mars has changed the content of most of its products. So, the bar of the same name became less high-calorie, and lost various artificial flavors. In addition, in the UK, the brand constantly arranges promotions in order to attract the British to the problem. healthy lifestyle life.