Orbit gum is pretty common nowadays, boasting over ten different flavors. The brand would have never gotten started if it weren't for WWII, however. Wrigley, who owned Juicy Fruit, Wrigley's Spearmint and Doublemint at the time, sent the entire production of the three brands to troops overseas.
Orbit was introduced as a replacement of these on the civilian market by Wrigley in 1944 and was discontinued after the war. The gum made its final return to US markets in 2001 and has grown ever since.
Wrigley now owns a lot of major gum brands besides the ones it sent to the troops. Some of them include Big Red, Winterfresh, 5, Extra, Big League Chew and Bubble Tape. The company also owns a number of mints and candies such as Altoids, Life Savers, Skittles and Starbursts.
That already seems like a lot of check-out aisle goods owned by one company, but Wrigley is actually owned by Mars Inc. Mars owns a number of other chocolates and candies, some of the most notable of which are 3 Musketeers, Dove chocolate, M&M's, Milky Way, Snickers, Twix and of course, Mars bars.
That's not all, however. Mars owns a number of pet foods as well, such as Pedigree and Whiskas. They also have their hand in multiple other markets as owners of brands from Bounty to Combos.
Mars Inc. Brings in $30 billion annually and is ranked as the third largest privately owned company in the US by Forbes. The company is entirely owned by the Mars family. Looks like they're doing pretty good for themselves!
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