Business Wars

It’s 1886 and in New York City, a young confectioner called Milton Hershey is desperately trying to save his business. He’s been struggling for years. He founded his first candy business in Philadelphia, only to watch it collapse. His second venture lasted just weeks. Now, he’s loaded up with debts he cannot pay. But he’s about to get a visit from a man who will change his fortunes forever, paving the way for him to introduce America to the joys of milk chocolate… and build a sweets-fueled empire.

It’s 1923 and the Hershey Chocolate Company dominates the candy bar business. With its milk chocolate Hershey bar and bite-sized Kisses, Hershey seems impossible to beat. But in a Chicago police station, an awkward father-son reunion is about to sire a new challenger in the candy business. That challenger is Mars and it’ll make its breakthrough by wrapping nougat in chocolate. For now, it’s got no plans to topple Hershey. But all that’s going to change when a family feud spawns a European offshoot, the launchpad for a new and far more aggressive candy empire.

It’s the 1940s and Forrest Mars’ plan to create a candy empire is stepping up a gear. He’s plotting to seize control of his dad’s company Mars and turn it into a Hershey killer. First he needs to get his new candy venture off the ground. But to do that he needs help. Help from Hershey. But while Forrest’s laying plans, Hershey’s trying to get over the death of founder Milton Hershey and grappling with an unexpected opportunity to become a global player.

It’s 1965 and Forrest Mars has just become the manufacturer of Snickers and M&M’s. He is now – at last – ready to duke it out with Hershey in a battle to become the number one candy maker in America. And he knows Hershey is far from prepared for his sudden switch from ally to enemy. Hershey is a company wedded to tradition. It has no marketing department, doesn’t advertise, and has a completely complacent sales team. The question is: can Hershey shake off its docile ways in time to stop Forrest’s relentless advance?

It’s the late 1970s and Mars is America’s top confectioner. But Hershey is hungry for a comeback. It’s plotting a return to the top powered by a rush of new candies it hopes can nibble away at Mars’ market share. Not that Mars has any intention of surrendering pole position without a fight. It thinks it can stop Hershey in its tracks by focusing exclusively on best-selling brands like Snickers, M&M’s and Milky Way. But what neither company knows is that a tempting opportunity from Hollywood is about to disrupt the balance of power in candy land.

It’s a new century and Hershey’s facing unexpected trouble at home — a showdown between the company and its biggest shareholder that threatens its independence. Meanwhile, Mars is on a mission to become the world’s candy king. And with Hershey yet to break ground outside the U.S., the opportunity to catch up is fading fast. Hershey knows there’s one move that could transform its overseas fortunes: a merger with its British soulmate Cadbury. The question is can it secure Cadbury’s hand in marriage before Mars triumphs in its quest for global chocolate domination.

Growing the cocoa needed to produce chocolate on the scale a company like Mars or Hershey needs is an immense undertaking. One serious consequence chocolate producers are now facing is deforestation in countries that grow the cocoa for the world's chocolate demands. The Washington Post reports that in 2017, 40 football fields of tropical forests were lost every minute, spurred by the demand for cocoa and other goods like soybeans and palm oil. We conclude our series Hershey vs Mars with Steven Mufson. He reports on business and climate change for The Washington Post and he joins us to talk about why deforestation has become such a serious issue and why producing environmentally sustainable chocolate is so hard.