Ever notice how a once harmonious relationship (marriage for example) can turn into a bitter rivalry when that partnership is severed? Well, that's what happened to Hershey and Mars! Just like any breakup, the word on the street varies a bit from one story to the next, but the basic facts remain the same.
Bill Murrie was President of Hershey from 1908-1947. He had a son named Bruce. Frank Mars was the founder of Mars. He had a son named Forrest.
Either Bruce or Forrest (the story differs), saw soldiers during the Spanish Civil War eating pieces of chocolate covered with a hard sugary coating. The coating preventing the candy from melting in the hot sun. The two teamed up to create M&Ms. (Mars and Murrie, get it?) Hershey made the chocolate inside, and Mars made the candy coating.
Though the elder Murrie stopped serving as Sales Manager in 1908, he retained responsibility for major industrial customers....one of which was Mars. His relationship with Mars resulted in a new relationship between the companies during the pre-World War II years. Hershey had a contract to supply chocolate to the soldiers, and the industry anticipated a chocolate shortage developing during the pending war. After wartime quotas ended in 1948, Forrest Mars maneuvered Bruce out of the partnership and went on to become Hershey's largest competitor.
You stole my story I was going to do Jennifer. No seriously, I was researching this same thing and found a little more. Mars was in England learning how to do European chocolate. He came home and pitched the idea to his dad who didn't buy it. Mars went to Hershey and they made the M&M. It is interesting how Hershey died penniless and Mars died as a billionaire. I might do a story on this later if you don't mind.
ReplyDeleteI saw so many different versions of the story, it was hard for me to figure out which was right and which was embellished.
ReplyDeleteGo right ahead...it doesn't bother me at all! I have also read quite a bit about the Mars family being incredibly secretive and private, which I found interesting as well.
Hmmm...I don't guess that I realized that the two were once partners, and that's where M&M's came from. I also didn't realize that M&M's has been around for so long. What was Hershey's first product on its own?
ReplyDeleteMilton Hershey's first successful candy was a caramel. He founded the Lancaster Caramel Company first, and it was actually a big success. The Hershey Company was originally a subsidiary of the LCC. The first Hershey product was milk chocolate. Back then, milk chocolate was a Swiss luxury product. He was convinced there would be a large market for it in the United States.
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