Wrigley Company facts for kids
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | April 1, 1891 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Founder | William Wrigley Jr. |
| Headquarters | Global Innovation Center,
,
U.S.
|
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
|
| Products | Juicy Fruit, Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, others |
| Revenue |  $5.389 billion (2007) |
| $961.9 million (2009) |
|
|
Number of employees
|
16,000 |
| Parent | Mars, Incorporated |
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, often called Wrigley, is a big American company that makes candy and chewing gum. Its main office is in Chicago, Illinois.
Wrigley is fully owned by Mars, Incorporated. Together with Mars chocolate, they form a bigger company called Mars Wrigley Confectionery. Wrigley is the world's largest maker and seller of chewing gum.
The company sells its products in over 180 countries. It has offices in more than 50 countries and runs 21 factories in 14 different nations.
Contents
- History of Wrigley's Gum
- People Who Led Wrigley
- William Wrigley Jr.: The Founder (1891–1932)
- Philip K. Wrigley: Wartime Efforts (1932–1961)
- William Wrigley III: Global Growth (1961–1999)
- William Wrigley IV: Sugar-Free Focus (1999–2006)
- William Perez: New Products (2006–2008)
- Dushan "Duke" Petrovich: Green Efforts (2008–2011)
- Martin Radvan: Worldwide Strategy (2011–2017)
- Andrew Clarke: Current Leader (2017 to present)
- Wrigley's Brands
- See Also
History of Wrigley's Gum
The Wrigley company began on April 1, 1891, in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by William Wrigley Jr..
Wrigley's gum was first made from a natural material called chicle. This chicle came mostly from Central America. In the 1960s, Wrigley's changed how it made gum. It started using synthetic rubber instead of chicle. This change made the gum cheaper to produce.
In 2005, Wrigley bought popular candy brands Life Savers and Altoids. This deal cost about $1.5 billion. Later, in 2008, Mars, Incorporated announced it would buy Wrigley for about $23 billion.
The Wrigley Building in Chicago is a very famous landmark. It used to be the company's main office until 2011. Since 2012, Wrigley has been based at the Global Innovation Center (GIC).
In 2016, Mars decided to combine Wrigley with its chocolate business. This created the new company, Mars Wrigley Confectionery.
People Who Led Wrigley
William Wrigley Jr.: The Founder (1891–1932)
In 1891, William Wrigley Jr. came to Chicago. He was 29 years old and had an idea to sell soap. To get people to buy his soap, Wrigley offered free gifts, like baking powder.
Later, he switched to selling baking powder. He then started giving away two packs of chewing gum with each can of baking powder. People loved the chewing gum so much that it became more popular than the baking powder! This led Wrigley to focus on making gum.
William Wrigley Jr. also became the main owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team in 1921.
Philip K. Wrigley: Wartime Efforts (1932–1961)
After William Wrigley Jr. passed away, his son Philip K. Wrigley took over as CEO. Philip K. Wrigley did something special during World War II. He decided to send all of Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit gum to the US Armed Forces.
He also started an ad campaign called "Remember this Wrapper." This helped people remember Wrigley's brands even when gum was hard to find due to wartime rationing. The gum brand P.K. was named after Philip K. Wrigley.
William Wrigley III: Global Growth (1961–1999)
In 1961, Philip K. Wrigley gave control to his son, William Wrigley III. He helped Wrigley grow around the world. The company opened new factories in nine different countries.
In 1974, a store in Ohio used a bar code scanner for the first time. The very first product scanned was a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. You can even see this pack of gum at the Smithsonian Institution today!
In 1984, Wrigley launched a new gum called Extra. This gum was sugar-free, which was a new trend in the US. William Wrigley III also took over the Chicago Cubs after his father died. He later sold the team in 1981.
William Wrigley IV: Sugar-Free Focus (1999–2006)
William "Beau" Wrigley IV became the leader after his father, William Wrigley III, passed away. He helped make sugar-free gum popular in many countries.
In 2006, Wrigley helped create the Wrigley Science Institute (WSI). This group studies how chewing gum can be good for your health. They look at things like how gum chewing affects weight, stress, focus, and oral health.
William Perez: New Products (2006–2008)
In 2006, William D. Perez became the first person outside the Wrigley family to lead the company. In 2007, the company launched 5 Gum in the US. This brand became famous for its cool TV commercials.
Dushan "Duke" Petrovich: Green Efforts (2008–2011)
Dushan Petrovich became president after Mars bought Wrigley in 2008. In 2009, Wrigley's Global Innovation Center earned a special award for being environmentally friendly.
Wrigley was also the official candy supplier for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Martin Radvan: Worldwide Strategy (2011–2017)
Martin Radvan became the president of the Wrigley Company after Petrovich. He was in charge of the company's plans, operations, and how well the business performed around the world.
Andrew Clarke: Current Leader (2017 to present)
Andrew Clarke is the current Global President of Mars Wrigley Confectionery.
Wrigley's Brands
Wrigley makes many popular chewing gums and candies. Here are some of them:
Gum Brands
- Juicy Fruit
- Spearmint
- Doublemint
- Freedent
- Big Red
- Hubba Bubba
- Extra
- Winterfresh
- Orbit
- Eclipse
- 5
- Excel
- Airwaves
Other Popular Products
- Altoids
- Life Savers
- Skittles
- Starburst
- Tunes
- Lockets
- Rondo
- Sugus
Alpine Gum
Alpine Gum was a type of gum made by Wrigley's that was only sold in Canada. It was meant to cool your throat and help with sore throat pain. Alpine Gum was stopped in 2005.
Alert Gum
In 2013, Wrigley temporarily stopped making and selling its new Alert energy gum. This happened because the US Food and Drug Administration wanted to study if adding caffeine to food products was safe.
See Also
- Wrigley Building
- Wrigley Field—a famous baseball park in Chicago
- Wrigley Field—a former baseball park in Los Angeles
- Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies—a research center on Catalina Island
- Wrigleyville—a neighborhood in Chicago near Wrigley Field
