| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food processing |
| Founded | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (1891) |
| Founder(s) | William Wrigley, Jr. |
| Headquarters | Wrigley Building Near North Side, Chicago, U.S. |
| Key people | William Wrigley, Jr. II, Chairman Martin Radvan, CEO |
| Products | Juicy Fruit, Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, more... |
| Revenue | $5.389 billion (2007) |
| Net income | $961.9 million (2009) |
| Employees | 16,000 |
| Parent | Mars, Incorporated (2008–present) |
| Website | www.wrigley.com |
The William Wrigley Jr. Company is a company headquartered in the Wrigley Building in Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois.[1] The company was founded on April 1, 1891, originally selling products such as soap and baking powder. In 1892, William Wrigley, Jr., the company's founder, began packaging chewing gum with each can of baking powder. The chewing gum eventually became more popular than the baking powder itself and Wrigley's reoriented the company to produce the popular chewing gum.
The company currently sells its products in more than 180 countries and maintains 14 factories in various countries, including the United States, Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, the Philippines, France, Kenya, Taiwan, China, India, Poland, and Russia.
In 2004, Wrigley purchased the Life Savers and Altoids businesses from Kraft Foods for US$1.48 billion. On January 23, 2007, Wrigley signed a purchase agreement to acquire an 80 percent initial interest in A. Korkunov for $300 million with the remaining 20 percent to be acquired over time. On April 28, 2008, it was announced that Mars, Inc would acquire Wrigley for approximately $23 billion.[2] Financing for the transaction was provided by Berkshire Hathaway, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Berkshire Hathaway holds a minority equity investment in the Wrigley subsidiary.
The corporate headquarters, the Wrigley Building, is one of the more well-known landmarks on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago.
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On October 23, 2006, William D. Perez succeeded Bill Wrigley Jr. as CEO. He is the first person outside the Wrigley family to head the 120-year-old company. Bill Wrigley Jr. retained the post of executive chairman.
CEO line:
In June 1974, a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio installed the first bar code scanning equipment. The first product to be scanned using a 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's National Museum of American History.
In 2004, Wrigley replaced part of the sugar content in most of their gum brands with aspartame. The change remains controversial with consumers who dislike the aftertaste of aspartame, and the numerous health risks believed to be associated with aspartame.
In some countries, xylitol, another sugar substitute, is used. In many counties, xylitol was promoted as a teeth protection agent whereas it is only a sugar replacement . By removing the sugar, the chance of tooth decay is lowered, since the sugar otherwise used may turn into acid after chewing the gum. It is also claimed that in chewing, it may help to remove food residues. Xylitol based products are allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make the medical claim that they do not promote dental cavities.[3]
TerraCycle repurposes waste packaging from Mars Incorporated and Wrigley's operations into products ranging from cell phone holders and laptop sleeves to messenger bags.
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