Every day, our 140,000+ Associates amaze us with their talent, curiosity, collaboration and passion for making a difference for people, pets and our planet. Every two years, our signature awards program – aptly named Make the Difference – formally recognizes Associates from around the world who’ve delivered extraordinary impact, helping bring us closer to the world we want tomorrow.
Due to the pandemic, this awards cycle ran for three years, yielding an incredible 13,000 nominations, which advanced to local finals, then regional semi-finals and on to the finals. Finalists – including 123 Associates representing 23 countries and 68 extraordinary projects – recently gathered in Washington, D.C., with members of the Mars Family and the Mars senior leaders to celebrate and unveil the top 10 Make the Difference winners.
Frank Mars, our Chairman of the Board, shared his passion for the program. “Make the Difference is a great example of how and why Mars remains a great place to work and where an individual can make a difference. It is also a source of amazing inspiration. The diversity of talent, the innovative thinking from all around the world and the energy and passion of all the Associates that were nominated for Make the Difference this cycle has been awesome – and has led to this extraordinary night and celebration. Congratulations to you all!”
"It is impossible not to be proud (and, frankly, wowed!) by the spirit of purpose and performance," said CEO Poul Weihrauch. "It's this unique spirit that makes Mars a truly special place, and I thank all the entrants for bringing it to life in so many different ways.”
Huge congratulations to all our nominees and our 2022 MTD winners!
Winners: Hirunya Kitsaran and Chayakorn Phinyo
Segment: Pet Nutrition
This Associate team transformed a premium petfood brand by innovating packaging, culinary experience and sustainability, scaling it across countries, increasing growth and winning awards from retailers along the way.
Winners: Colin Healy and Michael Alvarez
Segment: Mars Wrigley
Putting the Mars Five Principles(Opens a new window) – literally – in the palm of our hands, this project digitized, streamlined and automated manufacturing administrative processes.
Winners: Marine Le Quere and Sabrina Maas
Segment: Food
These Associates developed an Associate Resource Group (ARG) for women in our Supply areas, bringing learning, belonging, meaning and inclusion through the COVID pandemic.
Winners: Rachel Beck and Dr. Lindsey Reddemann
Segment: Mars Veterinary Health (Banfield)
With pet ownership skyrocketing and veterinarians struggling to keep up, these Associates relieved the burden with a process for scheduling appointments with our credentialed veterinary technicians, who saw 1.65 million pets in the past two years.
Winners: Mariely Espinoza and Olga Velazquez
Segment: Pet Nutrition
Toward the goal of conserving the world’s precious non-renewable resources, these Associates developed a solution to reduce water and natural gas in the making of our dry petfood. Their solution also resulted in Guadalajara becoming the site with the lowest energy consumption in the world in 2021.
Winners: Sharon Johnson-Hakim and Shayne Bement
Segment: Corporate and Mars Global Services
During the pandemic, these Associates developed an extensive, global COVID-19 Risk Recovery dashboard, enabling Mars sites and pet hospitals to continue operating. It also allowed our leadership to ensure Associate safety and navigate the pandemic responsibly and ethically.
Winners: Chloe Xuereb and Marine Geraud
Segment: Royal Canin
Knowing that one in five puppies dies within 48 hours of birth, this team developed a digital solution to help breeders take proactive steps to save lives and gather valuable data for Mars.
Winners: Narasuwan Ornanong and Jaiboon Sukanya
Segment: Pet Nutrition
These Associates used a scientific approach and innovative raw ingredient treatments to rapidly deliver a new pet food that’s both nutritious and delicious.
Winner: Frank Zahn
Segment: Mars Global Services
We’re all better when we can be our authentic selves. And this Associate went outside of their day job to help LGBTQ+ Associates feel welcome and supported, raising our Corporate Equality Index performance (a rating of treatment of LGBTQ+ employees, consumers and investors) from 60 to 100.
Winner: Jason Reiling
Segment: Pet Nutrition
This Associate impacted financial decision-making in one of our biggest business units, allowing us to plan and predict recommended pricing more effectively, with significant benefits for our retail partnerships and our financial performance.
