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Our Approach to Business

Introduction

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The Five Principles on display at Mars Chocolate’s U.S. HQ in Hackettstown, New Jersey
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At Mars, we have a deep respect for the environment and communities in which we operate and acknowledge our considerable impacts on people and the planet. We rely on farmers and nature for many of our ingredients. We operate 132 factories worldwide, serve millions of consumers around the globe and employ more than 65,000 people across our diverse business segments.

Being a privately owned company gives us the freedom to take a long-term view. We can make investments that demonstrate our responsibility not only to our owners, but to all the people and communities with whom we work. Our approach is focused on creating lasting, mutual benefits for our business and all those involved in its success.

We are a global company that acts locally. Our business segments are decentralized and, while many decisions are driven by needs in each market, we are always guided by our Five Principles of Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom, which have shaped our culture and our business for decades.

A company of our size and global scope affects people and the planet in many ways. We must identify the social and environmental impacts most significant (or “material”) to our business, and our stakeholders, and focus our efforts appropriately.

We know that making principle-based decisions alone will not help us address these challenges. It is by working with others, including our customers, suppliers, governments, nongovernmental organizations, industry, academia and research centers that we can create a mutually successful future. We hope this website will start new conversations and create opportunities for additional successful collaborations.

Open Workspaces Encourage Collaboration and Communication

A typical Mars open-plan office

Open communication and collaboration among Associates of all levels is an important part of the way we do business. For eighty years, our buildings’ open floor plans have facilitated this way of working. Mars sites are open spaces with few enclosed rooms or individual offices — not even for our Chief Executive Officer Paul S. Michaels. There are no executive dining rooms or reserved parking spaces, or other divisive symbols of status at Mars. We are one team.

What Sustainability Means to Mars

Based on the foundation of our Five Principles, we seek to create lasting, mutual benefits for all those involved in our business success by creating positive social impacts, minimizing our environmental impacts and creating economic value. Without integrating all these aspects into our business, our company will not endure in the long term.

We are working on strategies and targets for social and environmental impacts in all areas of our value chain and have already set long-term environmental goals for our factories and offices (which we call our “operations”), where we have direct control. We are committed to achieving zero fossil-fuel energy use, and zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2040, and are developing similar commitments for waste and water use. We have short-term targets to help us monitor our progress.

Our Areas of Focus

We focus on several key areas regarding our impacts on people and the planet. Our priorities are defined by what we see as our responsibilities, relevance to our partners and communities and our ability to create meaningful and lasting benefits. Wherever possible, we use science to define the challenge or opportunity and promote innovative thinking and solutions. Our focus areas are:

  • Health and Nutrition: As a leading food business, we have a responsibility to help address challenges of health and nutrition. We tackle these challenges through a program of information, renovation and innovation backed by scientific evidence. This includes providing the information consumers need to make smart decisions about their caloric intake, renovating product formulas to reduce calories, sodium and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and innovation, including developing new products that are focused on more active, healthy lifestyles.
  • Our Supply Chain: As a major user of agricultural products and other natural raw materials, we have a responsibility to ensure reliable supplies of our key ingredients in ways that improve the livelihoods of farming communities and limit impacts on natural resources.
  • Our Operations: As a global manufacturer, we seek to operate at peak efficiency, reducing costs while ensuring that our activities have the least possible impacts on the environment. We are committed to achieving zero fossil fuel-energy use, zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2040, and are developing similar commitments for waste and water use.
  • Our Products: We are making it easier for people to consume our products and dispose of waste and packaging responsibly. Reducing packaging materials and the energy needed to make our drinks, snacks and foods is good for the planet and saves money for Mars, our retail customers and consumers.
  • Working at Mars: Mars Associates are the core of what and who we are. We are committed to creating a workplace where all Associates are free to demonstrate leadership, learn, grow and make a difference for people and the planet through their performance at work.
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