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Business Wars · January 15, 2019 · 29m

Hershey vs. Mars - The Chocolate Wars

The battle for America's sweet tooth. Milton Hershey builds a utopian company town around chocolate. Forrest Mars Sr. builds a secretive global empire. Two fundamentally different philosophies of business produce two chocolate giants.

Canon

Hershey's community-minded culture persists 100+ years after Milton Hershey's death. Mars's secretive culture persists 60+ years after Forrest Mars's retirement. The founder creates the environment that shapes all future behavior.

Highlights

Hershey and Mars represent opposite philosophies: community vs. secrecy, transparency vs. privacy
Hershey built a town, funded schools, and made his workers shareholders. Mars was so secretive that even executives didn't know the full business plan. Both became billionaires using opposite approaches.