Lovers of candies, chocolates and confectionaries have a reason to be delighted as Mars is bringing its “sweet tooth” right into the Saudi market. Mars associates take their business seriously, they offer their clients an expanded list of such worldwide favorites as: M&M's, Snickers, and the Mars bar. Other confections include 3 Musketeers, Dove, Milky Way, Skittles, and Twix. Its products portfolio also boasts Seeds of Change organic food, the Klix and Flavia beverage systems, Combos and Kudos snacks, Uncle Ben's rice, and pet food made under the Pedigree, Sheba, and Whiskas labels. Mars owns the world's largest chewing gum maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, as well. The Mars plant, scheduled to be inaugurated Wednesday, occupies about 100,000 sq. meters in King Abdullah Economic City in Rabegh; one-fourth of it comes alive in 2014 when Saudi candy lovers will enjoy freshly-produced confectionaries in their own backyard. The Mars factory at KAEC is expected to begin production of four major brands: Galaxy, Mars, Jawaher and Snickers. The Mars family — including siblings and chairman John Franklyn Mars, VP Jacqueline Badger Mars, and former CEO Forrest Mars Jr. — owns the highly secretive firm, making the family one of the wealthiest in the US. A source in the industry in Dubai told the Saudi Gazette that Mars is not in Saudi Arabia for cost-cutting measures. “They sure would have the edge over others when product freshness, acculturation and employing Saudis are placed on the scale,” the source said requesting anonymity. Asked if he expects other producers to follow Mars to the Kingdom, he said: “Not too soon. Mars' share in the Saudi market gives them a comfortable edge; they can afford to think and plan for the coming 20 years.” In 1911, Frank C.Mars made the first Mars candies in his Tacoma, Washington kitchen and established Mars' first roots as a confectionery company. In the 1920s, Forrest E. Mars, Sr. joined his father in business and together they launched the Milky Way bar. In 1932, Forrest, Sr. moved to the United Kingdom with a dream of building a business based on the philosophy of a “mutuality of benefits” for all stakeholders. Based in McLean, Virginia, Mars has net sales of more than $30 billion and six business segments including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience. More than 65,000 associates worldwide are putting Mars Principles in action every day to make a difference for people and the planet. In 2009, Mars announced that, as of 2010, the company would only purchase cocoa from suppliers who meet environmental, labor and production standards. TransFair USA, an organization which certifies products as Fair Trade, applauded the move and expressed hope that it would include a provision for fair wages for laborers and farmers. In 2010, Mars Inc. received the US Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence. In April 2010, Mars launched the MyCocoaPaper initiative, which claims to provide economic opportunities for women and families in Indonesia by making paper products out of cocoa bark and recycled office paper. In 2011, Mars and Fairtrade International announced an agreement to introduce the first Fairtrade labeled Mars product and to work together to enable farmers to have sustainable livelihoods and substantially increased productivity. The first Mars product to carry the Fairtrade mark will be Maltesers, to appear in stores in 2012 in the UK and Ireland. __
