Our Approach to Business
Working with Others
“Our relationship with Mars goes much farther than a signed contract. We were proud to jointly develop an alternate-processing method without chemicals so the DOLMIO® brand could make its 100-percent natural claim. Mars asked us to share this alternate-processing method with their other tomato suppliers, so the entire industry benefits. This willingness to raise standards and share information sets Mars apart from many other companies.”
Antonio Casana,
Managing Director,
Solana SpA Maccastorma (tomato supplier)
“Mars has been a leader in two key areas of The Sustainability Consortium’s work: our Measurement Science working group and our Food, Beverage and Agriculture working group. Mars’ contributors bring a solutions-orientated approach to both groups. The Consortium’s success to date is in no small part due to their contribution.”
Jon Johnson,
Academic Director and Chairman of the Board,
The Sustainability Consortium
"The team at Mars works closely with us to make sure we both get the most from our relationship. We collaborate to ensure we understand shopper needs and give them what they want, improving both sales and consumer loyalty”
Ashley Hicks,
Category Director - Impulse,
Tesco UK
Collaboration to create lasting mutual benefits is at the heart of the way we do business. Open dialogue and strategic partnerships have helped us establish effective business strategies and share what we learn for the benefit of society and the environment. For example, our work with raw material suppliers aims to drive universal improvement in farming practices industrywide, not simply to create a reliable supply for Mars. Much of our collaborative research has been published to provide access for scientists worldwide – in the hope of advancing progress on key challenges through collaboration.
The groups we work with range from suppliers and retail customers to governments, nongovernmental organizations and the scientific community. As a decentralized business, we communicate with these groups at a segment and market level to maintain healthy working relationships and to benefit from their expertise in addressing business, social and environmental challenges. There are examples of work with others and the outcomes we achieve as a result throughout this website, and some are briefly summarized below.
Customers
Our customer partners are diverse, ranging from multinational retailers to small independent stores, distributors, specialty stores and veterinary practices. Examples of customer engagement initiatives include:
- An independent survey that measures customer satisfaction of our products and services
- Integrated business teams and collaborative planning processes designed to support the total business needs of the customer, covering areas as diverse as product transportation, sustainability, finance, brand and trade marketing and innovation
- A clear understanding of shopper insights that help improve sales in our customers’ categories and create mutual value
- Partnerships with larger customers, such as Walmart in Brazil, to address social and environmental impacts in our value chain
- Green Order, an initiative in Western Europe that prints the carbon footprint of each delivery on the delivery note and keeps a scorecard of the carbon impact of each customer’s ordering behavior
- Our partnership with Shoprite grocery stores and others in South Africa, which is helping to alleviate hunger by providing a mobile soup kitchen that feeds up to 500 people in 10 cities each day. The trucks visit schools, orphanages, HIV/AIDS homes and retirement centers.
Consumers
We engage with our consumers mainly through our brands and services. Our goal is to deliver quality and value at every point of contact, including our practices, products, packaging, advertising, consumer care and information sharing. See the Quality section for more on how we measure consumer satisfaction. We also engage with consumers on specific issues. Examples include:
- Health and nutrition: through Guideline Daily Amount labeling, and regional websites to raise awareness such as Planet Mars in GCC, and Mars Vida Saludable in Latin America
- Responsible pet care: through programs such as THE PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive and THE POWER OF PETS™ initiative
- Responsible gum disposal: through government and industry initiatives in countries, including Australia, China, Germany, Ireland, the U.K. and U.S.
Suppliers
Our suppliers range from small farmers and farming cooperatives, to fishermen, industrial producers, municipal utilities and agency partners. We select and monitor suppliers to ensure they share our commitment to quality products and processes and fair labor standards for their workers. We build our relationships with suppliers based on mutual respect and benefit. See Our Supply Chain for more details of how we work with suppliers to improve their practices, boost their incomes and secure sustainable supplies of our key raw materials.
Associates
We value visible and approachable leadership and believe dialogue at all levels is a natural part of the working day. Decision-making is collaborative, and consensus is more important than authority. Our open-office policy facilitates communication, and we use tools like our dotMars intranet to communicate openly about all aspects of our business. We promote a culture where every Associate can feel comfortable raising queries with us directly, but we respect their right to union representation, if that is what they prefer. In addition, the Mars Ombudsman program provides a confidential, independent, neutral and alternative channel of communication for Associates to express ideas and concerns. See Working at Mars for more information. The careers section of our website provides information on how to become a Mars Associate.
Government Officials and Regulators
Communicating with government officials and regulators in our markets is an important part of business. We aim to productively contribute to a broad array of policies relevant to our business, consumers and society as a whole, from job creation and economic development, to health and well-being, to climate change. We follow local and federal regulations wherever we engage in lobbying. We have a long tradition of creating mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships and for being an advocate for addressing the challenges society faces. Examples include:
- Our work with Change4Life, a U.K. Government-led campaign to combat rising levels of obesity by helping people to eat well and exercise
- Our support for the Indonesian government’s Gerakan Nasional Pro-Kakao, or GERNAS, initiative to rehabilitate the country’s cocoa industry. This work led to the first Indonesian cocoa receiving Rainforest Alliance certification in August 2010.
Communities
We strive to add value in any community in which we operate and engage on multiple levels; as an employer or purchaser, as a contributor to the tax base of an area, and as a partner in the effort to ensure communities are thriving for residents and as places where we can operate successfully. On this website, you will find information on our responsible-sourcing programs, the Mars Ambassador Program and Mars Volunteer Program, and many other examples of community engagement. You will also find more information about how we are approaching our wider social impacts.
Nongovernmental Organizations
We often partner and engage in dialogue with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in fields relevant to our business to combine our expertise and amplify the impacts of our initiatives. Examples include:
- Our work with the Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Certified, the Marine Stewardship Council, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and many others to promote sustainable practices in the production of our raw materials.
- Our work with various partners, including the Turkish-German Health Foundation, to promote healthy, active lifestyles. We provide tailor-made consumer information to the Turkish community in Germany, which is at high risk of obesity and heart disease.
Research Partners and the Scientific Community
Mars uses a partnership approach to drive scientific achievements that make a difference for our business and often the broader world. Collaboration can result in sector-changing innovation important to the wider community. We work with a range of scientific organizations from governmental agencies and renowned academic institutions, to research foundations and industry partners. The Mars Science Advisory Council (MSAC) provides us with objective scientific advice.
As yet, measuring impacts on people and the planet in a data driven, scientific and standardized manner is very difficult. And, the use of conflicting methods by different partners can create confusion and misdirected efforts.
Through our membership in The Sustainability Consortium, a group of diverse suppliers, manufacturers and retailers partnered with academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations, we are working to develop a common measurement and reporting system to help us make consistent decisions throughout the value chain.
