The Wrigley Company
| The Wrigley Company
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|---|---|
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| legal form | |
| founding | April 1, 1891 |
| Seat |
Chicago , Illinois , United States
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| management | Martin Radvan (President) |
| Number of employees | 16,000 |
| sales | $ 5.389 billion (2007) |
| Branch | Food industry |
| Website | www.mars.com |
The William Wrigley Jr. Company is the world's largest manufacturer of chewing gum . In addition to chewing gum, Wrigley also produces candy and chewing gum base for other suppliers. The seat of the German administration is in Unterhaching .
history
The company was founded on April 1, 1891 by William Wrigley Jr. in Chicago as Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, where it is still headquartered today, and originally manufactured soap and baking soda .
Initially, the company added a packet of baking powder to the soap , which had a positive effect on sales, as customers also bought the soap because of the side dish. So they went into the baking powder business and this time added two strips of chewing gum to each pack. Again, the supplement had a sales-promoting effect, so that the business area changed again and in 1893 the chewing gum production started. The company launched Wrigley's Spearmint, a brand of chewing gum that is still sold today . Along with Juicy Fruit, this is the oldest type of chewing gum.
In 1915, the company sent four strips of chewing gum to everyone in the United States' phone book. In total, 1.5 million people were supplied with these free product samples. The action was repeated four years later. At that time there were already more than seven million phone owners and a corresponding number of product samples were sent out.
In 1920 the foundation stone was laid for the company headquarters, which is now a landmark of the city of Chicago: The Wrigley Building . When William Wrigley died in 1932, his son took over the company.
In 1925 Wrigley opened his first German factory at Mousonstrasse 15-17 in Frankfurt am Main , which had to close in 1932 due to problems with the customs clearance of necessary raw materials. From then on, Wrigley products were imported from the USA. In 1955 the company returned to Germany with a branch in Düsseldorf.
In October 2006, William Perez became the company's first chief executive officer who did not come from the ranks of the Wrigley family. His predecessor Bill Wrigley moved to the board of directors.
Takeover by Mars
The American Mars Incorporated took over Wrigley on October 6, 2008 together with Berkshire Hathaway, run by Warren Buffett . The consortium of Mars, Berkshire Hathaway, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan paid $ 23 billion for the acquisition. At the time of the acquisition, Wrigley had a market value of approximately $ 17.3 billion.
range
Wrigley's has the following chewing gum brands in its range: 5 Gum , Airwaves, Altoids, Aquadrops, Big Red, Doublemint, Extra, Hubba Bubba , Juicy Fruit, Lockets, Orbit, Starburst, Wrigley's Spearmint. Wrigley's also carries the products Skittles (chewable tablets with sugar coating) and Wrigley's Eclipse Flash.
Juicy Fruit
Juicy Fruit has been available on the American market since 1893, and in Germany since 1950. It is one of the oldest Wrigleys products. Over time, the taste and packaging have changed over and over again. In addition to the normal taste, there are the varieties Squish, Blueberry, Strappleberry, Wintergreen, Squish Strawline and Squish Malberry.
advertising
The well-known promotional song "Take the great, real freshness", known as the Wrigley Hit '73 , was sung by the Munich band Love Generation .
Web links
- Wrigley Official Website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Management (English)
- ^ Judith Dietermann: Chewing gum made in Frankfurt; in: Taunuszeitung from December 16, 2017, p. 18
- ↑ manager magazin: William Perez becomes CEO , article from October 24, 2006
- ↑ Press release Mars, Inc .: Takeover by Mars ( Memento from May 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Press release Mars, Inc .: Takeover by Mars completed ( Memento of October 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Love Generation - The Wrigley hit '73 "Take The Great Real Freshness" at Discogs (English).