Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
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| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | Chicago, Illinois, USA in 1891 |
| Headquarters | 410 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Key people | William Wrigley, Jr. II, Chairman William Perez, CEO |
| Industry | Food processing |
| Products | Juicy Fruit, Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, more... |
| Revenue | ▲$5.389 billion USD (2007) |
| Net income | ▲$6.32 million USD (2007) |
| Employees | 16,000 |
| Parent | Mars, Incorporated |
| Website | wrigley.com |
The William Wrigley Jr. 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 offering 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, Serbia, Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, the Philippines, France, Kenya, Taiwan, China, India, Poland, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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 Berkshire Hathaway and Mars, Incorporated would acquire Wrigley for approximately $23 billion.[1]
The corporate headquarters, the Wrigley Building is a well-known landmark on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
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[edit] Corporate leadership
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 114-year-old company. Bill Wrigley Jr. retained the post of executive chairman.
CEO line:
- 1891–1932 - William Wrigley Jr. (1861–1932)
- 1932–1961 - Philip K. Wrigley (1894–1977)
- 1961–1999 - William Wrigley III (1933–1999)
- 1999–2006 - William Wrigley, Jr. II (1964)
- 2006–2008 - William Perez
- 2008 - Dushan "Duke" Petrovich
[edit] Recent changes in gum
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.
In some countries, xylitol, another sugar substitute, is used. In many counties, xylitol was promoted as a teeth protection agent whereas in fact it is only a sugar replacement. By removing the sugar, the chance of tooth decay is lowered, since the sugar otherwise used usually turns into acid after chewing the gum. And in chewing, it may help to remove food residues. The company promote the gum as a teeth protecting product accredited by dentists, but this statement is misleading, if not deceiving. 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[2]. Nevertheless, the company promotes its products differently where the laws are not as strict.
In 2004, after years of having a pack of Wrigley's gum cost 25 cents, the company changed the price to 30 cents. However, in Canada, the pricing changed to 45 cents.
[edit] Subsidiaries
[edit] Trivia
In June 1974, Marsh's 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.
[edit] Brands
[edit] Gum (US)
- Juicy Fruit (1893)
- Spearmint (1893)
- Doublemint (1914)
- Freedent (1975)
- Big Red (1975)
- Extra (1984)
- Winterfresh (1994)
- Surpass (2001)
- Orbit (reintroduced 2001)
- Orbit White
- Eclipse (2001)
- 5 (2007)
[edit] Gum (Canada)
[edit] Gum (made by The Wrigley Company Ltd., Estover, Plymouth, UK)
- Active8 (discontinued)
- Airwaves
- Big Red (discontinued in 1998)
- Doublemint
- Extra
- Freedent (discontinued)
- Ice White - Later re-branded as Orbit Ice White
- Juicy Fruit
- Orbit
- Orbit Professional
- Orbit Complete
- P.K
- Wrigley's Spearmint
Products
- Alpine Gum|Alpine Throat Relief
- Altoids
- Big League Chew
- Bubble Tape
- Cool Air
- Eclipse
- Excel
- Hubba Bubba
- Life Savers
- Gummi Savers
- Life Saver Minis
- Life Saver Fusions
- Creme Savers
[edit] See also
- Wrigley Building
- Wrigley Field—Chicago
- Wrigley Field—Los Angeles
- Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies—Catalina Island
- Wrigley Roof
- Wrigley Square
- Wrigleyville
[edit] References
- ^ ""Mars, Buffett Team Up in Wrigley Bid"". Wall Street Journal. 2008-04-27. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120935192240148985.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=101.80
[edit] External links
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