Poor Boy Turned His Candy Company Into Billions!

In his mid-30s, on the verge of bankruptcy and fleeing a failed marriage, a small-town man had virtually no prospects, he had no university education, and no money to fall back on. All he had was a dream to create a candy company, and by ingeniously partnering with his biggest rival, he was able to rise up and dominate the global chocolate market, starting a multi-generation empire that would eventually rise to a value of almost 100 billion dollars. Starting in his home kitchen, this young entrepreneur ended up producing the most popular chocolate of all time. This is the story of Franklin Clarence Mars. Franklin Clarence Mars was born in the small town of Hancock, Minnesota, in 1883. His father worked in a nearby cereal grain factory, and it was his mother who would put him on the path to later success. Franklin was confined to the house after contracting polio, and was forced to spend much of his time inside the house, to help pass the time his mother taught him how to make candy. From the baking process, to dipping them into a chocolate coating, Franklin came to know the method back to front. Fascinated by the candy, Franklin wasn't content with making his mother's recipes. From an early age, he was already adding twists, experimenting with different flavor combinations and methods, and his preoccupation never faded. By the time he'd finished high school at the age of 19, he was already selling a product he marketed as Taylor's Molasses Chips, made out of his mother's kitchen. Initially, his innovation was matched by his business instinct, becoming mildly successful selling the candies to locals. But without any capital to support the business, Frank struggled to stay afloat. It didn't help that competition in the candy-making business was ramping up. The Hershey Company had been established a decade earlier, and was expanding out of Pennsylvania to become a nationally recognized chocolate brand. A few years later, he was working as a salesman. Married, he had a newborn son to support. His part-time candy business had failed, but having grown up tinkering with his recipes, Frank was certain that his product was good enough to be successful. All he needed was a bit of luck. At the time, he and his family were living in the small town of Wadena, Minnesota. His personal life was coming crashing down too, divorcing his first wife and losing custody of their son. With that, Frank moved to Tacoma, Washington, alone. Now, Frank put all his energy into another business venture. After arriving in Tacoma, he founded the Mars Candy Factory in 1911. Frank was down on his luck when he began his newest business venture. He was manufacturing the candies himself from his kitchen. His first product was buttercream candy, with a soft creamy filling encased by a rich chocolatey exterior. Once again though, despite a quality product, Mars' business hit a brick wall and his business failed. Frank moved his new family and second wife back to Minnesota, this time to the big city of Minneapolis. Frank was now 37, had two major business failures and a strange son and ex-wife, and no money to his name. But he wasn't deterred. Something inside him told him that success was his fate. Candy was in his blood, and there was nothing he knew better. So, once again, he set up a business. This time, it was named Marobar Co. The first couple of years were unsuccessful, with the flagship candy, the Marobar, cracking under transport, which didn't help with success. But this is when he would have his first successful product. With nougat and a top layer of caramel packed inside a coating of milk chocolate, it was the first ever filled candy bar. Frank took inspiration from the popular malt milkshake and the combination of flavors, which is what gave it the name Milky Way. Just as he had envisioned, Frank's lifetime of refinement was finally ready to pay off. It was the Milky Way bar that launched Frank's operation onto the national market. The Milky Way became a goldmine for Frank, who had been digging for decades. Selling for five cents apiece, Frank's company made $69,000 in 1923, the first year of operation. The following year, the Milky Way bar exploded in popularity, becoming a nationwide sensation and earning Frank over $800,000 in sales. Today, that would amount to more than $14 billion. This meant that for the first time, the company could afford to have a full-time sales team to help with expansion. He trademarked the name Milky Way as the company's flagship product that gave him a firm grip over the American candy industry. Without enough supply for keeping up with the demand, Frank was using Hershey's chocolate for coating, becoming their biggest customer. This was a partnership that would extend through multiple generations and help both companies achieve worldwide success. But there was another partnership waiting to be mended in Frank's life, and doing so would ensure Mars would reach its full potential. The business was booming at the company, which became incorporated as Mars Inc. It was now time for the business and personal life of Frank Mars to merge. For almost three decades, he had been estranged from his first son, Forrest Edward Mars, only visiting him sparingly over the years. Frank lived with his second wife, Ethel, and their daughter, Patricia. While his father was building up his chocolate empire, his long-lost son Forrest had been raised in Canada by his grandparents on his mother's side. He went on to excel in school, moving back to the United States and studying at the University of California and then Yale University, graduating with top marks and a degree in industrial engineering. But like his father, Forrest's true drive was for business. After completing his degree, Forrest was invited to work with his father at the Mars company full-time. Together, they developed some of their most well-known candies. The first was made up of a soft, sticky mixture of nougat, peanuts, and caramel, coated in milk chocolate. Looking for a name for the concoction, the Mars father and son team took it from their favorite horse, its name, Snickers. Like the Milky Way bar, Snickers went on to almost immediate success. It was seen as a direct response to Hershey's Mr. Good bar, which was filled with roasted peanuts. But Mars didn't stop there. Just a couple of years later, the company released the Three Musketeers bar, this time encasing a light whipped nougat inside their chocolate. But after great success, Frank and his long-estranged son Forrest began butting heads. Frank didn't have a university education background. Instead, he had tried and failed many times, pulling himself up again and again to eventually achieve success. But that drive had now faded. It was now Forrest who wanted to push the limits of the business, while Frank erred on the side of conservation. Forrest had a global vision for the company to expand internationally and become a true empire, while Frank wanted to remain focused on the American market. Forrest continued to experiment with different products, as his father once did. Their conflict couldn't be resolved, and Frank paid out Forrest to leave the company. While away from Mars, Forrest struck up an unlikely partnership that may have saved the company. In 1932, Forrest moved to England, working for prestigious European chocolate brands like Tobler and Nestle. With global experience under his belt, Forrest launched Mars Limited in England. The Mars Bar was actually first made in England, each individually handcrafted in the small town of Slough. For the first time in its history, more than three decades after Frank Clarence Mars founded the company, it was his son Forrest that created the soon-to-be globally recognized Mars Bar. He wanted to make his own mark with a unique candy, just as his father did with the Milky Way Bar. The Mars Bar was one of the few chocolate bars allowed to continue being produced during wartime, becoming a favorite for soldiers. Together with their competitor, Hershey's, Mars Bar and M&M's were sent out to Americans on the front lines, and once the war finished, the candy bar market exploded, putting the now-famous Mars Bar into public hands. Frank Clarence Mars had been enjoying the fruits of his labor, living on a quiet farm in Tennessee. Located nearby the factory of the Milky Way factory that earned his fortune, Frank was accompanied by his beloved horses. He built a racing track in 30 barns, where he and his second wife Ethel raised a number of several racehorses. Locals referred to the property as Milky Way Farm and became a mainstay of the local economy. During the Great Depression, it helped nearby residents avoid the catastrophe faced by most other Americans. After only a few years of enjoying his luxurious manner, though, in 1935, Franklin C. Mars died from a heart condition. More than 90 years after his death, the farm was restored and opened to the public as a local landmark, as a commemoration to his contributions. But back then, Frank's death raised a huge question. With the patriarch gone, who would be left to run the American candy titan? Frank's wife and half-brother briefly took over the business, but Forrest's fate beckoned him to return back to the United States and take over the business. Making quick work of expanding into other markets, his experience in Europe gave him plenty of connections and knowledge over the Atlantic, and many products, like Maltesers, were advertised to Europeans as crunchy honeycomb bubbles with a delightful malty flavor. Forrest's expansion crossed into different industries, too, moving into pet food with the brand Pedigree and cereal grain with Uncle Ben's Rice. He once said, But at the center of the empire remained chocolate, where Mars went on to develop a product that he based on small chocolate pellets he had seen soldiers eating in Europe. These were specially made to be small, easy to consume in different proportions, and lightweight. He sought investment from Bruce Murray, the son of the Hershey Corporation's executive. Together, the name for Mars and Murray's creation, M&M's, was born. They were perfectly suited to be soldier rations and quickly became a favorite of Americans. When the product went public after World War II, and to prevent copycats, they imprinted a large M on each piece. The world was fast being introduced to the fruits of Mars' legacy. Both Forrest and Frank committed their lives to candy and developing their own unique products. For this reason, the business kept a tight lid on the ingredients, recipe, and manufacturing process of all its products. In 1993, a Washington Post writer was allowed a small glimpse inside the factory, but only to witness how the M was stamped. Under Forrest's guidance, he turned his father's candies into a multi-billion-dollar machine. Mars released dozens of products with different products including Skittles, Starburst, and Munch, ensuring that every confectionery aisle in the world is stocked with the company's products and that the Mars legacy is continued. And since the death of Forrest Mars in 1999, the company has remained in the Mars family. Left to Forrest Edward Mars Jr., true to the company's commitment to secrecy, Forrest's death was never officially announced, and they have refused to comment on the matter since. In 2022, Mars had $45 billion in revenue, which is more than Coca-Cola. They employ 130,000 people who call themselves Martians. It now has more than 50 brands to its name, including Twix, Wrigley's Gum, Master Foods, Dolmio, and Whiskas. Their expansion into new fields like healthcare, pet care, and even scientific research has ensured that the company continues to grow and remain competitive. Their products are produced in 60 countries and available in over 200, making Mars one of the most famous candy brands on the planet. M&M's became the first candy in space when they were taken by NASA aboard the space shuttle launch in 1981, and they were planned to be featured in the blockbuster E.T., but Mars didn't want to be associated with a strange alien being. Since its inception over 90 years ago, over 30 billion Mars bars have been sold globally. Today, more than 3 million are produced every 24 hours. Out of the top 10 most popular chocolate bars in the world, five of them are made by Mars, topping the list with Snickers. And the empire would have never emerged were it not for the resilience, perseverance, and passion of Franklin Clarence Mars. Far from a man of privilege, Frank failed several times before finding success, but his confidence in his own product and his own abilities eventually conquered these obstacles. Each time, he gambled on himself, and it paid off, securing the financial safety of his descendants for generations. As he outgrew the business and into retirement, he passed the torch to his son. The Mars family is now worth an estimated $94 billion, and the third richest in America, Frank Clarence Mars survived three failed businesses and still bounced back into the industry. His products began in his home kitchen in Tacoma, Washington, rooted in the knowledge his mother handed down during his youth.