Quality
The "M" is a symbol of the quality of M&M'S® and will always appear on the product. The first M's were printed on M&M'S Plain Chocolate Candies in 1950 to help ensure consumer quality as a significant percentage of total M&M'S sales are done in bulk. Wanting to ensure consumers get the real thing, the slogan "Look for the M on every piece" is created. Originally printed in black, the now familiar white M&M'S printing began in 1954.
Today, millions of people pop M&M'S into their mouths without giving a second thought to those two tiny letters printed on top. Truth is, the technology to accomplish that is incredibly sophisticated and required a huge investment of time money and expertise. But we are fanatical about perfection. And having developed the technology, now we can do short custom runs printing almost any kind of message. That’s a marketing opportunity. But it was born from our obsession with quality.
Responsibility
Working closely with major universities and research institutes around the world, Mars Inc collaborates in research studies about cocoa: its genetics, how to protect it against diseases and pests, how to breed a better cocoa tree, the potential health effects of eating cocoa and chocolate, and how to protect the natural levels of beneficial substances in cocoa during processing. This body of scientific work is unique in its depth and breadth.
Mutuality
In 1991 more than 23 tons of SNICKERS®, MILKY WAY®, MARS® and RAIDER® candy bars went on sale for roubles for the first time in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as Mars opened offices in Warsaw, Prague, and Moscow. Then in 1998 the rouble collapsed.
Ordinary Russians were the hardest hit by the currency collapse, which caused the price of imports and food to soar. But at Mars, we do not answer to shareholders or worry about short-term results. We hung in, kept investing, and when things turned around, we were ready.
Efficiency
When Gilles Barathier, maintenance technician at St Denis de l'Hotel in France, discovered a weakness in our production systems that meant petfoods were not always efficiently distributed into their packaging he didn’t hesitate to come up with an alternative, better, packing solution.
Drawing on past experience as a helicopter mechanic, Barathier quickly developed "the vortex", a production delivery system that solved previous problems of product clogging as well as allowing for faster packing on the production line. His vortex has now been employed in Mars factories around the globe.
Freedom
In 1965 The WALTHAM® Centre for Pet Nutrition was established in the UK to identify the dietary needs, preferences and behavior of pet animals. As a privately owned company, Mars has the freedom to conduct pet research purely for the sake of bettering the life of pets.
Our team has pioneered some of the most important breakthroughs in pet nutrition, and has shared the results of the Centre's research via more than 1,500 publications, and regular communication with scientific and pet care communities. By developing products that constantly improve nutrition and care, we help the world's pets to live healthier and happier lives.
Watch our documentary to see our business living its principles all around the globe.