Mars Reveals Plans to Double Snacking Revenue to $36 Billion With KIND Bar

Mars aims to take over the global snacking sphere over the next decade by doubling its yearly revenue to $36 billion with its healthy KIND Bar snack.

With conscious and healthy eating on the rise, Mars, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chocolate, chewing gum, mints, and more, faces the challenges of keeping up with changing consumer needs, from hardcore chocolate indulgence to healthier cravings.

In 2017, Mars invested in KIND Bars to cater to these changing trends in the snacking space. This healthy bar contains nuts and grains and is sprung together with nut butter, a generous sprinkling of chocolate chips, and sometimes even a drizzle of dark chocolate.

Currently, the successful candy business has turned over $18 billion in yearly revenue for its snacking division, which includes popular treats like Skittles, Starburst, Extra and Wrigley’s chewing gums, M&M’s, Altoids, and Dove chocolate. Sharing its revenue figures and future plans for the first time with Forbes, Mars noted that if it hits its goals, it would perk up the company’s total annual earnings, which hit $47 billion last year and has reached $50 billion in 2023.

In an interview with Forbes, Mars Snacking global president Andrew Clarke said, “That gives you a sort of magnitude of where we’re at, at the moment, and we’re present across the world.” He added, “We’re feeling very, very optimistic about the future of Mars snacking.”

Mars also has explained that it wants to reach its goals the right way by “overhauling supply chains to deliver cuts of 50% in emissions by 2030 and net-zero carbon by 2050.”

Clarke’s vision is to give the snacking industry a new look, which is very possible with the scale and reputation at which they operate. However, Mars does have certain uphill battles to conquer, such as the dry weather in India and Thailand, which has resulted in a global shortage of sugar. Additionaly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts that U.S. prices could shoot up as much as 10.6% in 2024.

While there is a rise in Americans saying no to sweet snacks, some of them are doing so with the help of drugs. There was a 58% rise in sales in the first nine months of 2023 for Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, which is also used to suppress the appetite for weight loss. As more Americans become health and weight conscious, this could have a long-lasting monetary impact on snacks, which Mars estimates is a $700 billion global market.

Robert Boutin, president of candy consultancy Knechtel, told Forbes, “Almost everybody is on a diet. Almost everybody watches calories. Everybody is worried about heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Most parents restrict how much sugar children are taking. That has an impact on their core business.” And this limited growth in the industry means “there’s more competition for the same amount of dollars.”

Speaking about KIND, Mark Haas, CEO of Portland, Oregon-based confectionery consultancy Helmsman Group, said that its “major success” is “the perception of healthy snacking.”