Mentos History
Who sparked the beginning of a Fresh New World? Scroll down and see the success story of Mentos.
1900
VAN MELLE WAS FOUNDEDVan Melle was founded in Breskens, Netherlands.
1932
MENTOS BECOMES A REALITYOn a train ride to Poland, brothers Michael and Pierre van Melle came up with the vision of a peppermint-flavoured caramel candy to go by the name of Mentos. This was the beginning of a Fresh New World.
1946
PERFETTI WAS FOUNDEDPerfetti was founded in Lainate, near Milan.
1950
NEW MENTOS PRODUCTIONMentos production moved to Rotterdam. International orders to France, Germany and the UK marked the beginning of the New Freshness spreading across the world.
1960
MENTOS IN A ROLLThe sixties! Revolutions in fashion, sex, music and Mentos. The first Mentos roll found its way to consumers across the globe.
1973
NEW MENTOS VARIETIESWhile the original Mentos was tickling the taste buds of the King of Nepal, new varieties were introduced. In the U.S. Mentos lovers got to try cinnamon and menthol, while European fans were presented with fruit-flavoured mints.
1976
FIRST TV COMMERCIALMentos made its small-screen debut with the first Fresh TV commercial.
1990
The freshmaker DÉCLIC FRAÎCHEURLa campagne Le déclic fraîcheur de Mentos donne rapidement des résultats. Les ventes explosent peu après son lancement.
2001
PERFETTI VAN MELLE MERGER2001 was a special year for Mentos, which saw the Dutch company van Melle and the Italian company Perfetti join forces, making Mentos available in shops everywhere.
2005
MENTOS GUM DEBUTSMentos Gum made its debut in Europe and beyond. The refreshing taste, the unique shape and texture, and the many different flavours found new fans everywhere.
2007
SETTING WORLD RECORDSThe World Record was set for the most Diet Coke and Mentos explosions at one time. The record was set on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati, OH.
2007
MAKE ART POP—A REFRESHING MASTERPIECEAfter visiting a museum exhibit it found a little too conventional, Mentos created the Make Art Pop movement to shake up the art world with a little fun. The idea was to create urban visual art with gigantic Mentos gum sheets.
2009
MAKE YOUR WORLD GO ROUND(ER)!Mentos launched Make Your World Rounder. Mentos Fresh crews bounced all over Canadian cities on giant jumping balls, spreading good vibes everywhere.
2010
MENTOS GOES SOCIALMentos went social by opening a Facebook account. Since then, Mentos social presence has continued to grow.
2014
First partnership with The Amazing Race CanadaMentos teams up with The Amazing Race Canada for the first time, weaving its products into the show. The partnership will end up lasting three years
2014
MENTOS GUM COMES TO CANADAMentos Gum was introduced in Canada.
2019
Introducing Clean Breath hard mintsIntroducing Clean Breath hard mints, proven to help provide clean breath for 30 minutes
