▁Jr ., ▁based ▁in ▁the ▁Global ▁In nov ation ▁Center ▁( G IC ) ▁in ▁Go ose ▁Island , ▁Chicago , ▁Illinois . ▁It ▁is ▁wh olly ▁owned ▁by ▁Mars , ▁In cor por ated , ▁and ▁along ▁with ▁Mars ▁ch oc olate ▁bars ▁and ▁other ▁c andy ▁products , ▁makes ▁up ▁Mars ▁W rig ley ▁Con fection ery . ▁It ▁is ▁the ▁largest ▁manufact urer ▁and ▁mark eter ▁of ▁che wing ▁g um ▁in ▁the ▁world . ▁ ▁The ▁company ▁currently ▁s ells ▁its ▁products ▁in ▁more ▁than ▁ 1 8 0 ▁countries ▁and ▁districts , ▁maintain s ▁operations ▁in ▁over ▁ 5 0 ▁countries , ▁and ▁has ▁ 2 1 ▁production ▁facilities ▁in ▁ 1 4 ▁countries ▁including ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁Mexico , ▁Spain , ▁the ▁United ▁Kingdom , ▁France , ▁the ▁Czech ▁Republic , ▁Poland , ▁Russia , ▁China , ▁India , ▁Japan , ▁Ken ya , ▁Taiwan , ▁Australia , ▁and ▁New ▁Zealand . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 8 9 2 , ▁W rig ley ▁Jr . ▁began ▁pack aging ▁che wing ▁g um ▁with ▁each ▁can ▁of ▁b aking ▁pow der . ▁The ▁che wing ▁g um ▁eventually ▁became ▁more ▁popular ▁than ▁the ▁b aking ▁pow der , ▁and ▁W rig ley ' s ▁re orient ed ▁the ▁company ▁to ▁produce ▁the ▁g um . ▁ ▁W rig ley ' s ▁g um ▁was ▁tradition ally ▁made ▁out ▁of ▁ch icle , ▁which ▁was ▁s our ced ▁largely ▁from ▁Latin ▁America . ▁In ▁ 1