Mars, Incorporated Major Products And Services

HISTORY

Mars was established in the year 1922 by Frank Mars. The Milky Way bar, sold in Europe as the

Mars bar, was an immediate success and, together with the company's other famous brands, such

as Snickers, served as the foundation for its global snack food business.

A decade later, the company identified pet food as a potential growth market. Mars was one of the

first companies in the European pet food industry to use modern manufacturing techniques coupled

with nutritional science, which it later transferred to the US and the rest of the world. Working in

Europe during the 1930s, the company decided to make chocolates with a protective candy coat to

stop them from melting, which paved way for the introduction of M&M's candies. Six years after its

1943 launch, Uncle Ben's became one of America's top selling brands of packaged long grain rice.

The company entered the confectionery market in India in 1989. This was followed by the opening

of a confectionery processing plant in Brazil in 1997. In the same year, Mars acquired Seeds of

Change, an heirloom seed company.

In 2000, the company established the Effem India subsidiary to market Mars' products in India. Mars

acquired French pet food producer Royal Canin in 2003. During the same year, the company's

subsidiary in Mexico, Effem Mexico, merged with the Mexican confectioner Grupo Matre to produce

candy for the Hispanic markets.

Mars also acquired Nippon Conlux, a Japanese vending machine parts manufacturer, in 2003. In

the same year, the company began manufacturing Snickers Marathon, an energy bar. In the drinks

sector, Mars licensed its Milky Way, Starburst, and 3 Musketeers brands to Bravo in 2004.

In 2005, Mars began phasing out its 'king size' candy bars, responding to public concerns about

healthy eating. In 2006, the company launched CocoaVia, a line of confectioneries containing

flavanols, which the company claimed as healthy for hearts and arteries. In the same year, Mars

sold its payment processing subsidiary, MEI Conlux, to investment firms Bain Capital and Advantage

Partners, for more than $500 million. Also in 2006, the company discontinued some of its brands,

including Pop'ables.

To strengthen its fast-growing pet-products business, Mars acquired dog treat manufacturer S&M

Nu Tec in 2006. The company also acquired Doane Pet Care Company, a private label dry pet food

manufacturer, to enhance its position in the US dry pet food category. Later in 2006, Masterfoods

(a brand of Mars) recalled about 1,008 M&M's Menorahs due to a potential fire hazard.

In 2007, during the US telecast of Super Bowl XLI game, the company's Snickers brand ran an ad

campaign with NFL approval and logo wherein the ad's imagery created negative publicity. The

company was then asked to pull out the ads and related website. In the same year, Royal Canin, a

subsidiary of Mars, recalled one of its pet food brands which contained contaminated wheat gluten.

Also in 2007, Mars launched a new website, www.mars.com, following its global brand unification

announcement. The company also signed a definitive agreement to acquire the global pet food

operations of Nutro Products (a manufacturer

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