Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, also known as Wrigley Company or simply Wrigley's, is an American multinational

candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

and

chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...

company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of Mars Inc., and, along with Mars chocolate bars and other candy products, makes up Mars Wrigley Confectionery. It is the largest manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum in the world. The company currently sells its products in over 180 countries and districts, operates in over 50 countries, and has 21 production facilities in 14 countries.

History

The company was founded on April 1, 1891, in Chicago, Illinois by

William Wrigley Jr. William Mills Wrigley Jr. (September 30, 1861 – January 26, 1932) was an American chewing gum industrialist. He founded the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891. Biography William Mills Wrigley Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

Wrigley's gum was traditionally made out of

chicle Chicle () is a natural gum traditionally used in making chewing gum and other products. It is collected from several species of Mesoamerican trees in the genus '' Manilkara'', including '' M. zapota'', '' M. chicle'', '' M. staminodella'', and ...

, sourced largely from Central America. In 1952, in response to

Decree 900 Decree 900 (), also known as the Agrarian Reform Law, was a Guatemalan land-reform law passed on June 17, 1952, during the Guatemalan Revolution. The law was introduced by President Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán and passed by the Guatemalan Congress. ...

, land reforms attempting to end feudal working conditions for peasant farmers in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, Wrigley's discontinued purchasing chicle from that country. Wrigley's announced the closure of its

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

manufacturing plant in April 1996. The plant had been built in 1955. The 385,000-square-foot manufacturing facility was put on the market in October 1996 for US$11.3 million, or about $30 a square foot. In 2005, Wrigley purchased

Life Savers Life Savers (stylized as LifeSavers) is an American brand of ring-shaped hard and soft candy. Its range of mints and fruit-flavored candies is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in paper-wrapped aluminum foil rolls. Candy manufacturer ...

and Altoids from

Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

for US$1.5 billion."Heritage Timeline"
Wrigley Company. Retrieved on September 25, 2012. On January 23, 2007, Wrigley signed a purchase agreement to acquire an 80% initial interest in Russian chocolatier A. Korkunov for $300 million with the remaining 20% to be acquired over time. On April 28, 2008,

Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated (doing business as Mars Inc.) is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services founded on June 23, 1911, headquartered in McLean, Virgini ...

announced that it would acquire Wrigley for approximately $23 billion. The sale price represented a significant premium to Wm. Wrigley Jr.’s market capitalization, which stood at $17.3 billion. Financing for the transaction was provided by

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

, and

JPMorgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mar ...

; Berkshire Hathaway held a minority equity investment in Wrigley until October 2016, when Mars took full control over the company. The

Wrigley Building The Wrigley Building is a skyscraper located at 400–410 North Michigan Avenue on Chicago's Near North Side. It is located on the Magnificent Mile directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower. Its two towers in an elaborate style ...

on Michigan Avenue, a landmark on Chicago's

Magnificent Mile The Magnificent Mile (sometimes locally abbreviated to the Mag Mile) is the approximately one-mile-long stretch of Michigan Avenue (Chicago), Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River to Oak Street (Chicago), Oak Street on the Near North Side ...

, was the company's global headquarters until 2011, when it was sold to an investor group that included Zeller Realty Group as well as

Groupon Groupon, Inc. is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Based in Chicago, Groupon was launched there in November 2008, launching ...

co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. The company has been headquartered in the GIC since 2012. In 2016, Mars announced that Wrigley would be merged with its chocolate segment to form a new subsidiary, Mars Wrigley Confectionery. The new company would maintain global offices in Chicago, while moving its U.S. offices to Hackettstown and Newark, New Jersey. In May 2021, the company filed a lawsuit against five companies for marketing cannabis-infused edibles that closely resembled its Skittles, Starburst, and Life Savers brands. On October 16, 2023, Judge John W. Holcomb approved a final judgment by consent in the case between Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company and Green Rush Extracts LLC. The defendants agreed to a permanent injunction and significant monetary remedies for willful trademark infringement and counterfeiting.

Corporate leadership

1891–1932: William Wrigley Jr.

In 1891, 29-year-old William Wrigley Jr. (1861–1932) came to Chicago from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

with $32 and the idea to start a business selling Wrigley's Scouring Soap. Wrigley offered premiums as an incentive to buy his soap, such as baking powder. Later in his career, he switched to the baking powder business, in which he began offering two packages of chewing gum for each purchase of a can of baking powder. The popular premium, chewing gum, began to seem more promising, prompting another switch in product focus. Wrigley also became the majority owner of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in 1921.

1932–1961: Philip K. Wrigley

After William Wrigley Jr. died, his son Philip K. Wrigley (1894–1977) assumed his father's position as CEO of the Wrigley Company. Wrigley is most well known for his unusual move to support US troops and protect the reputation of the Wrigley brand during World War II, in which he dedicated the entire output of Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit to the US Armed Forces. Wrigley launched the "Remember this Wrapper" ad campaign to keep the Wrigley brands on the minds of the customers during times of wartime rationing. Wrigley's P.K. brand was named after P.K. Wrigley.

1961–1999: William Wrigley III

In 1961, Philip K. Wrigley handed control to his son, William Wrigley III (1933–1999). Wrigley led a strategic global expansion by establishing Wrigley facilities in nine new countries. On June 26, 1974, a Marsh Supermarket in

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

installed the first

bar code A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

scanning equipment. The first product to be scanned using a

Universal Product Code The Universal Product Code (UPC or UPC code) is a barcode#Symbologies, barcode symbology that is used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. The chosen symbology has bars (or spaces) of exactly 1, 2, 3, or 4 units wide each; each decimal ...

(UPC) bar code was a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. (This pack of gum is now on display at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a historical museum in Washington, D.C. It collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and m ...

.) In 1984, Wrigley introduced a new gum, Extra, which followed the new trend of sugar-free gums in the US. Wrigley also assumed control of the Chicago Cubs after his father's death in 1977, and sold the team to the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' in 1981.

1999–2006: William Wrigley IV

William "Beau" Wrigley IV (1963–), following the death of Wrigley III (his father), led the sugar-free gum campaign across Europe, Australia, Spain, India, and China. In 2005, Kraft Foods sold the Life Savers and Altoids businesses to Wrigley in exchange for $1.5 billion as part of a reorganization plan. Wrigley helped establish the Wrigley Science Institute (WSI) in 2006 to study the oral health benefits of gum chewing. The WSI investigates the effects of gum chewing on weight management, stress relief, concentration, and oral health.

2006–2008: William Perez

On October 23, 2006, William D. Perez (1948–) succeeded Bill Wrigley as CEO, becoming the first person outside the Wrigley family to head the company. In 2007, the company debuted 5 Gum in the United States. The 5 Gum brand was marketed using cinematic TV commercials portraying "How it feels to chew 5 Gum." Perez led the efforts of improving slimmer packaging (Slim Pack) with flavor improvements across both Extra and Wrigley brands.

2008–2011: Dushan "Duke" Petrovich

Dushan Petrovich (1954–) succeeded Perez almost immediately after Mars, Incorporated's 2008 purchase of Wrigley. In 2009, Wrigley's Global Innovation Center received the

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

Gold Certification through Wrigley's commitment to global sustainability. In the

2010 Olympic Games The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wrigley was the Official Confectionery Supplier of the games, in which the company sported Olympic-themed packs and products.

2011–2017: Martin Radvan

Martin Radvan became the president of the Wrigley Company after Petrovich. He is responsible for the company's worldwide strategy, operations, and business performance.

2017 to present: Andrew Clarke

Subsidiaries

* The Wrigley Company Limited * Amurol Confections Company * Northwestern Flavors, LLC

Brands

Gum

United States *

Juicy Fruit Juicy Fruit is an American brand of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company, a U.S. company that since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the privately held Mars, Incorporated. It was introduced in 1893, and in the 21st century the brand name is reco ...

(1893) *

Spearmint Spearmint (''Mentha spicata''), also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is naturalized in many othe ...

(1893) * Doublemint (1914) *

Freedent Freedent is a brand of chewing gum manufactured by Wrigley's. Freedent was first introduced in the US and UK in 1975 and is marketed as the gum that "won't stick to most dental work (or braces)." Freedent comes in eight flavors: Winterfresh, Pe ...

(1975) * Big Red (1975) * Hubba Bubba (1979) *

Extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

(1984) *

Winterfresh Winterfresh is a wintergreen flavored variety of chewing gum made by the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. Introduced in the United States in 1994 as an alternative to their Big Red brand (for the winter season market), it has had two packaging designs ...

(1994) *

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

(1899; 1944; reintroduced 2001) *

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

(2001) * 5 (2007) Canada * 5 * Doublemint * Excel * Excel Mist * Excel White *

* Extra Professional * Extra Professional White * Hubba Bubba *

The Wrigley Company Ltd., Estover, Plymouth, UK * Airwaves * Hubba Bubba * Doublemint *

* Altoids *

* Tunes *

Rondo The rondo or rondeau is a musical form that contains a principal theme (music), theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes (generally called "episodes", but also referred to as "digressions" or "c ...

– a mint flavored candy brand owned by Wrigley Company. It was, prior to 2008, a brand of parent company

Mars Incorporated Mars, Incorporated (doing business as Mars Inc.) is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of Animal welfare, animal care services founded on June 23 ...

. * Wrigley's Spearmint *

Lockets Lockets are a confectionery produced by the Wrigley Company in the UK and Czech Republic. They are sold as medicated supplement to help nasal congestion and sore throats. Flavours They are available in multiple flavours including cranberry and ...

Additional products and brands * Altoids * Big Boy * Big G * Big League Chew (until November 2010) * Boomer * Bubble Tape * Cool Air *

* Excel * Hubba Bubba *

* Gummi Savers * Life Saver Minis * Life Saver Fusions * Creme Savers * PimPom * P.K. * Skittles * Solano * Starburst * Sugus *

* TaTa * Tunes

Alpine Gum

Alpine Gum was a gum made by Wrigley's, and was only sold in Canada. It is an alternative to

cough syrup Cold medicines are a group of medications taken individually or in combination as a treatment for the symptoms of the common cold and similar conditions of the upper respiratory tract. The term encompasses a broad array of drugs, including ana ...

. It cools the throat and relieves sore throat pain. Alpine was discontinued in 2005.

Alert Gum

In 2013, Wrigley temporarily halted production and sales of its new Alert energy gum after the US

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

said it would investigate the safety of added caffeine in food products.

References

External links

*
Company profile
at Yahoo! * {{Authority control Mars, Incorporated Food and drink companies established in 1891 Confectionery companies of the United States Chewing gum Irish-American history 2008 mergers and acquisitions 1891 establishments in Illinois Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange