More than 100 years ago, a young Frank C. Mars started making candies in his Tacoma, Washington kitchen. From that simple beginning, his son Forrest built Mars into the mature company it is today, first by creating the MILKY WAY® bar with his father and later by expanding the business overseas and diversifying into new categories like pet care and food. Today, the Mars family of Associates is 80,000 strong in 78 countries around the world. Through all that growth, we’ve remained a private, family-owned business, with passionate Associates who are united and guided by The Five Principles. The Five Principles are the heart of everything we do. Each one of our principles — Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom — inspires us to do our best.
Mars makes a lot more than just chocolate. Indeed, six distinct and different businesses — Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience — have helped us reach billions of consumers and achieve more than $35 billion in global sales. From selling PEDIGREE® dog food in New Zealand to planting SEEDS OF CHANGE® in South Africa, we touch nearly every corner of the globe — and the passion of our Associates help us do it the right way.
We want to grow in a way that we can feel proud of, and we aim to create win-win situations for everyone we work with as we achieve that growth. From our consumers and customers to our business partners and the communities in which we operate, Mars is built to care. Doing business to benefit the whole means we have an impact on the whole world — one that reaches far beyond the walls of our offices and factories and into our communities and the lives of farmers and suppliers. It’s what matters to our Associates. It’s how we turned a small confectionery business into a global company. And it’s how future generations will continue to operate.