Mysterious and low-key Mars family
family business Mars is one of the world’s largest food manufacturers. Its main business involves the manufacturing and marketing of snacks (candy and chocolate), pets, staple food and electronic products. It has many world-renowned brands such as: M&M&x27;S Chocolate Beans, Snickers, Dove, Green Arrow, Yida, Mars, Aobai, Baolu, Royal, etc.
In the 2018 Bloomberg Billionaires Index list, the Mars family’s wealth reached 89.7 billion yuan. They are one of the world’s largest private companies, and they insist on not going public and unwilling to disclose financial statements. They rarely Exposing to the spotlight, the whole family appears very mysterious and low-key.
Little Candy Factory
Frank Mars: Suffered from polio, and learned to make chocolate from his mother since childhood. I started selling chocolates for a living since I was 19 years old. After getting married, my wife and my wife tried to make and sell candies in the kitchen at home. After that, they opened several small candy factories, but they all closed down due to poor management.
Frank's married life was not smooth. He divorced his wife in 1910, and his son followed his ex-wife to Canada. The following year, Frank founded a candy company called "Mar-O-Bar". At first, it produced a candy made of caramel, nuts, and chocolate, but the business still didn't show much improvement.
Until 1923, Frank met his son Frist by chance. Frist, who was only 19 years old, proposed to him to cover the candy bar with chocolate, so as to keep the fresh taste and easy to carry. According to his son's suggestion, Frank produced the "Galaxy Bar". This new product was immediately popular as soon as it was launched. Moreover, the manufacturing cost of candy is low, and it tastes good without losing chocolate, which brings them extremely considerable income.
In 1927, Frank moved the factory to the west of Chicago and the company officially changed its name to Mars. In 1930, they developed Snickers, and in 1932, with several new products, Mars became the second largest confectionery manufacturer in the United States.
Frank Mars saw that a small candy workshop could grow to such a scale, he became satisfied with the status quo. But Forester was ambitious and wanted to expand. He kept persuading his father to develop the Canadian market. Frank was very dissatisfied with his son's attitude and eventually expelled him from the company.
More than a year later, Frank passed away and the company was taken over by his second wife and daughter.
ambitious
Forest·Mars: was born in Washington, USA in 1904. He is the only son of Frank Mars. At the age of 6, his parents divorced, and he settled in Canada with his mother. Forrester spent his childhood at the house of strict grandparents.
In 1923, Forester met his father for the first time after 13 years of separation. It was also his proposal that the company produced the best-selling product-"Galaxy Stick" , Laid the foundation of the Mars family business. The ambitious Forester was expelled from the company for urging his father who was content with the status quo to expand.
In 1932, Forrester moved to the UK with US$50,000 and the overseas sales rights of "Galaxy Stick" and started his new business. At that time, the European chocolate industry was more prosperous than the United States, so he worked and studied as a worker in various candy factories.
In 1933, he improved the formula of "Galaxy Bar" according to the taste of the British, and listed it under the name of "Mars Bar". The sales of "Mars Bar" have been booming, and by 1939, Forrester's company had become the third largest confectionery manufacturer in the UK.
In 1934, Forrester also did one thing. He bought a British dog food processing factory that produced canned minced meat. At that time, pet cats and dogs usually only ate human leftovers. Forrester saw business opportunities from this, and he began to produce and sell canned pet food. With no competitors, he quickly became a leader in the UK dog food market.
Soon after World War II broke out, Forester, who had a keen business sense, found a business opportunity during the war. He discovered that most of the military chocolates used by the US military are produced by Hershey. Since soldiers must store them next to their bodies, ordinary chocolate bars will melt within a few minutes. Although Hershey's chocolate is resistant to high temperatures, it greatly affects the taste.
In 1939, the first thing Forester did when he returned to the United States was to find the president of Hershey and proposed to develop a chocolate that would not melt and taste good. Mars invested 80%, Hershey invested 20% plus chocolate making technology.
In 1941, M&M’S chocolate beans wrapped in colorful icing came out. During World War II, M&M’S chocolate beans were once required to be only supplied to the military. Since the partner found that Forest was a difficult person to work with, they soon sold all the shares to him.
糖帝国
Forrest not only has the ability to innovate products, but is also a good at marketing. He found that although M&M’S chocolate beans are very attractive to children, they don’t have much money, so the sales of this product are far worse than Snickers. So he wanted to start with adults. The advertising company came up with a very famous ad slogan: "It only melts in the mouth, not in the hands." This is simply too attractive for parents who are struggling to clean the chocolate stains on their children's clothes. . M&M’S chocolate beans immediately became the most popular candy.
Although M&M'S beans established Forrester’s position, he was not able to fully control Mars at this time. After the death of his father’s second wife, he and others The shareholders started a battle for control of the company and finally got full control of Mars in 1964. Since then, he has carried out many drastic reforms to the company, including quality control, personnel salaries, etc., and has never stopped expanding.
In 1967, Forrester established Royal Pet Food Co., Ltd., a company specializing in designing dog food for large dogs and puppies.
In 1973, 69-year-old Forrester handed over the management rights of the company to his children. Despite this, he still closely supervised the operation of the company.
In 1979, Mars launched skittles, and with its unique advertising style, it became another candy that has become popular all over the world.
In 1986, Mars acquired Dove, and continued to improve and develop the taste of chocolate.
In 2008, Mars teamed up with Buffett to acquire Wrigley, the largest chewing gum brand in the United States, at a price of 23 billion U.S. dollars, and became the global leader in candy chewing gum.
Today, Mars has become the world's largest confectionery and snack company, with more than a dozen international brands with a brand value of more than one billion U.S. dollars, and its annual sales ranks first in the global confectionery and chocolate list.
The Mars family has gone through a hundred years and replaced three generations of heads. It has not been listed yet, but it still maintains upward vitality. Forrest's management philosophy is the foundation. The persistence of quality and product innovation deeply rooted in the hearts of every family member has enabled Mars to continuously create surprises.
There is a saying that often hangs on Forester's lips:
"I am not a candy producer, I want to build a candy empire."
