Our Supply Chain Approach
The Impacts of Our Supply Chain
“Together with Mars, we have investigated a number of topics to improve our practices, such as water use, alternate-milling practices, product traceability, biofuel options and the use of chemicals. Our farmers have now experienced successful compensation for producing high-quality products in a more sustainable fashion. Our relationship with Mars is not just a client/supplier relationship. We respect each other’s expertise and make decisions jointly — and, ultimately, we both benefit.”
Dominique Bamas,
General Manager,
Axereal Wheat Cooperative
Our work to understand the social, environmental and economic impacts of our business confirms that our supply chain is a source of both risks and opportunities.
We have identified our major areas of supply-chain impact, defined strategies and set targets in some areas and are still working to better understand others. See Understanding Our Impact for more details of our approach. Here we summarize the major impact areas in our supply chain.
Climate Change
We know that raw materials account for the largest proportion of greenhouse-gas emissions in our value chain. Of the materials we buy, rice, meat products, dairy, corn and wheat produce the most greenhouse-gas emissions. This is largely due to the high volumes we buy and also because rice, meat and dairy are emissions-intensive.
Other emissions-intensive raw materials that we buy in smaller quantities include mint and coffee. Follow the links to read about our sourcing programs for each material.
Water Impact
We are working with experts in water conservation to develop a common methodology for calculating water impact, which takes into account local water stress, the sources available, seasonal water flows and other factors. Read more here. We support research seeking to reduce water use in the production of water-intensive crops, such as rice, tomatoes and mint.
Land Use
We have not yet fully quantified our impacts on land use or biodiversity. We do have strategies and targets for the responsible sourcing of certain raw materials with major impacts on land use and/or biodiversity, such as cocoa, palm oil and fish.
Social Impacts
Our sourcing decisions and supplier relationships are helping many people make real and lasting improvements in their lives.
We are committed to ensuring that everyone who deals with Mars benefits from their relationship with us. We respect human rights throughout our value chain, guided by our Five Principles of Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom. In addition, we recognize the principles of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
Through our responsible sourcing programs, we have made good progress in addressing the social impacts of sourcing several key raw materials such as cocoa, tea and coffee.
