Mars Celebrations Pouch - 325g

A boy from Minnesota

Franklin Clarence Mars was born in Minnesota in 1883 and learned to hand-dip chocolate from his mother while recovering from a mild case of polio. By 1920 he had founded Mar-O-Bar Co. in Minneapolis, which later incorporated as Mars, Incorporated. In 1923, inspired by a chocolate malted milkshake, he introduced the Milky Way bar, and it became the company's best-selling candy bar. Not bad for an idea that started with a milkshake.

Then Slough, of all places

The British chapter starts in 1932, when Forrest Mars Sr. rented a factory in Slough and, with a staff of twelve, began making the original chocolate-coated nougat-and-caramel bar, modelled after his father's Milky Way and adjusted for European tastes. He founded his own Mars company there and created Maltesers in 1936. The Slough factory, the birthplace of the Mars bar, today also makes Galaxy and Maltesers for the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. Slough is not where most people would guess. It is, though.

Still in the family

Mars, Incorporated remains a family-owned business, and its brands include M&M'S, Snickers, Pedigree and Whiskas alongside the chocolate, so the dog and the cat are looked after as well. The pouch, meanwhile, does what a shared bag does in any British front room. It sits on the arm of the sofa, it goes round during the film, and somebody always leaves one at the bottom. It is never them.