Buzz
In the early 1900s, Forrest Mars Sr., son of Franklin Clarence Mars, the creator of the Snickers bar, traveled across Europe to dive deep into the candy industry. His journey took him to Nestle, Tobler, and even led him to open a small factory in England. He also marketed some of his father’s candy products. More importantly, he discovered a spark of inspiration. Legend has it that while in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Mars noticed chocolate pellets coated with a hard candy shell, often packed in soldiers’ rations to prevent melting. These may have been influenced by the ‘chocolate beans’ produced by Rowntrees in York, England, since 1882.
After returning to the U.S. in 1940, Mars teamed up with another candy heir to create his own version of the Spanish treat.
The partnership with Bruce Murrie played a key role in the candy’s success during World War II. Bruce, son of William Murrie, the president of the Hershey Company, provided Mars with access to Hershey’s chocolate and sugar supplies during a time when these ingredients were hard to come by. This connection also ensured a steady customer base, as Hershey had already secured a deal in 1937 to supply chocolate for U.S. Army rations.
Mars and Murrie named their new candy after their initials, and M&M's quickly spread across the globe, thanks to U.S. servicemen (along with the 4-ounce, 600-calorie ‘Ration D’ Hershey chocolate bar). However, the story didn’t have a sweet ending for Murrie. After chocolate rationing ended post-war, Mars bought out Murrie’s 20% stake in the product and went on to challenge Hershey as one of its biggest competitors.
Leaving Their Legacy
Despite their partnership ending, Mars and Murrie’s initials continued to define the candy’s identity, and by 1950, the famous ‘M’ was even stamped on each piece. Today, the process for applying the Ms is described by Mars Inc. as “similar to offset printing.” M&M's pass through a specialized conveyor belt with indentations for each candy, then move through a machine where vegetable dye is transferred from a press to a rubber etch roller, which gently prints the M on each candy.
The printer can stamp up to 2.5 million M&M's per hour. Some candies may come off the line without the M, but Mars doesn’t view these as rejects. Minor variations in shape, especially with peanut M&M's, make consistent stamping tricky, and the machine is designed to allow some candies to slip through unmarked to avoid damaging the candy shells.
This post originally appeared in 2012.
