About WOHP and Mars Wrigley

Here’s where you find out all about Mars Wrigley and the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme.

Principles in action

Every day across the globe we strive to make a positive difference to people, communities and the environment around us. Here's a short summary of how we're acting on our principles to create positive change.

Planet

From the way we source our ingredients, to how we fuel our factories and package our products, we are mindful of our impact on the world around us. We’re at our best when sound environmental, social and economic practices are part of everything we do. We take great care to plan for the future and minimise waste at every turn.

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People

We aim to make a difference by respecting diversity and encouraging inclusion. We do this through consistently improving our health and safety practices, by providing volunteer opportunities for our associates and through philanthropy with real impact.

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Performance

Increasing the simplicity and efficiency of our operations keeps lifting our business to new heights. And remaining financially sound affords us the freedom to forge ahead with an inspiring vision of the future.

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Our initiatives

What’s important to our customers is just as important for us and our business. That’s why we partner with business communities, the governments and NGOs to act on important business issues like littered gum, nutrition labelling regulations and health.

Wrigley through the years

We've come a long way in 100 years: from small beginnings in a single office in London to becoming the UK's biggest seller of chewing gum.


1911

Wrigley sets up in Heppells, a chemist in London's Piccadilly. One of our first major hurdles was to change attitudes about chewing in public in a somewhat austere Edwardian Britain!


1920s

During the First World War many soldiers chewed gum in the trenches, and this new habit travelled back with them and coincided with the wide-ranging social changes of the 1920s.


1927

Along with the change in social attitudes post-war came a growing demand for chewing gum, and to help meet it we opened our first factory in Wembley in 1927.


1950

Chewing gum has been recommended by dental professionals for many years, and as long ago as 1950 a paper was presented at the AGM of the BDA recommending chewing gum.


1950s

Because of wartime rationing, gum had started to be seen as a glamourous, luxury item. After rationing ended in the 1950s, chewing gum was one of the items people desired.


1970s

By the 1970s gum was reaching new heights of popularity and we moved from Wembley to a bigger factory in Plymouth, officially opened by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh in 1972.


1977

Orbit®, the world's first sugarfree chewing gum, is launched, pushing Wrigley into new territory and reaching new, more health-conscious customers.


2003

We've continued to innovate with new brands, which are now part of everyday life for millions. 2003 saw the launch of Extra Mints®, an extension of one of our best-loved brands.


2011

Our centenary year saw the launch of Extra Ice® with microgranules, accredited by the British Dental Health Foundation. We've also set up many projects like the Wrigley Tooth Fairy Fund.


2013

Major launches include our new Fresh Mint and Strawberry Extra® varieties, and we're constantly looking at ways to get our message out to encourage people to chew for better oral health.


2015

2015 saw the introduction of a distinctive new packaging design for EXTRA® and a new improved taste for some of the most popular products in EXTRA the range. The product re-formulations and fresh visual identity aim to drive home the brand’s outstanding oral care credentials to a global audience