The name Masterfoods name originated from a food distribution company founded by the Lewis family in 1949 in Australia. This company was acquired by Mars in 1967.
On May 31, 2006, Mars announced that it was abandoning the 5-year-old Masterfoods brand which was orginally intended to leverage the company's $18 billion in sales. In 2001, Mars changed its corporate name to Masterfoods North America and began consolidating its three top divisions under this one brand. The company has decided to discard Masterfoods name and once again decentralize its divisions. The name change is the final step in the decentralization begun in October 2005 of Mars' top three U.S. divisions -- snacks, food and pet food. The objective is to return to the better-known Mars brand name preferred by retailers and consumers.
Mars under the name Masterfoods Vending distributes some of the top selling vending candy products on the market. The company accounts for up to 73% of all vended candy.
A partial list of their best selling products include:
- M&M's Plain®
- M&M's Peanut®
- Skittles®
- Twix®
- Snickers®
- Milky Way®
- 3 Musketeers®
- Starburst®
- DoveBar®
- Kudos®
- Combos®
- M-Azing®