2024 Sustainable in a Generation Report
Our Approach to Sustainability
In 2017, we launched the Sustainable in a Generation Plan and since this time, we have remained focused on helping shape a future with a healthier planet, thriving people and pets and a more inclusive society. Our approach to sustainability focuses on always striving to do the right thing and holding ourselves accountable for our sustainability performance over promises. We are committed to delivering responsible growth while providing quality products and services to our customers in a way which advances social and environmental progress.
We remain committed to trying and scaling new solutions, unlocking growth opportunities while continuing to improve the lives of people, pets and communities and reducing the impact we have on the planet by helping everyone thrive.
Our progress to date
Our Sustainable in a Generation Report measures the progress we’ve made in 2024 to transform how we do business, covering our collective effort to deliver meaningful change while at the same time acknowledging the many challenges ahead of us.
Our Sustainable in a Generation plan is upheld by three key pillars where we work to maximize our impact: Healthy Planet, Thriving People and Nourishing Wellbeing.
Healthy Planet
Reducing our environmental impact in line with what science says is necessary to keep the planet healthy.
View MoreGoal: Reduce the total GHG emissions across our value chain by 50% by 2030 and achieve Net Zero by 2050 compared to 2015.
Goal: Hold flat the total land area associated with our value chain.
Goal: Reduce the gap to sustainable water usage in the long term, and reduce by 50% from 2015 to 2025.
Goal: Develop packaging that is reusable, recyclable or compostable and increase our use of post-consumer recycled content in our plastic.
Thriving People
Meaningfully improve the lives of the people in our value chain to enable them to thrive.
View MoreGoal: Meaningfully improve the lives of 1 million people across our value chain to enable them to thrive.
Goal: Increase farmer incomes through Mars-designed programs.
Goal: Improve the lives of women in our value chain with programs designed to enable them to thrive in our supply chain, farming and agricultural communities.
Nourishing Wellbeing
We are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our Associates and consumers by delivering products and services that are trusted and enjoyed, and in turn enabling people and their pets to live healthier, happier lives.
View MoreGoal: Deliver 5.5 billion healthy meals per year by 2025, including 4 billion servings of vegetables and a 30% increase in fiber servings.
Goal: Nourish our community through a 5% reduction of sodium.
Goal: Deliver compliance with our Mars Marketing Code commitments at 95% for marketing content and 97% for marketing placement.
Highlights from our report
Healthy Planet
At Mars, we know that our business can succeed even as we work to create a healthier planet. We are focused on reducing our environmental impacts across our value chain. We have set multiple science-aligned targets addressing climate action, land use and deforestation, water stewardship and packaging – and we are taking meaningful action to get there.
As outlined in the Mars Net Zero Roadmap, we are committed to achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050 against our 2015 baseline and to delivering a 50% reduction by 2030. To accomplish this, we are implementing strategies such as expanding renewable energy usage, redesigning supply chains to address deforestation, scaling climate-smart agricultural practices, optimizing recipes, improving logistics and embedding climate action throughout the business.
2024 Highlights
16.4% decrease in GHGs of our full value chain from our 2015 baseline.1
We aim to hold our total land footprint flat, so that our value chain does not indirectly contribute to further agricultural expansion. We are proud to remain flat with our 2015 baseline, reinforcing our commitment to responsible land stewardship.
Land use change is the second biggest driver of our value chain emissions, with deforestation and the conversion of natural ecosystems posing major threats to both nature and society. At Mars, we are working to redesign our supply chains to combat deforestation and ecosystem conversion across five raw materials identified as having the greatest impact: beef, cocoa, palm oil, pulp and paper and soy. Our “map, manage and monitor” approach is central to this effort, leveraging geospatial satellite data to track our progress and assess emissions benefits. This approach enables us to trace supply chains, assess deforestation and conversion risks at the relevant scale, engage with suppliers to support alignment with our requirements, evaluate performance and scan for ongoing supply chain compliance. Our leadership in this space was ranked #6 overall in the 2024 Forest 500(Opens a new window), a U.K.-based nonprofit that assesses businesses on the strength and implementation of their commitments on deforestation, conversion of natural ecosystems and associated human rights.
2024 Highlights
We continue to deliver our goal of holding our land footprint flat compared to our 2015 baseline, supporting our goal that our supply chain does not indirectly contribute to additional deforestation or land conversion.
Water is a critical resource. As global water stress intensifies, we are committed to supporting responsible water stewardship by enhancing water efficiency, reducing usage in our facilities and collaborating with farmers, suppliers and stakeholders to drive collective action. Our approach includes improving water management in high-risk regions where we operate and building resilience in key supply chains. Our Water Stewardship Strategy is designed to address water stress where it matters most – focusing on high-risk watersheds, improving water efficiency in agriculture and manufacturing and collaborating with stakeholders to drive systemic change.
2024 Highlights
36% reduction in the gap to sustainable water use in our value chain since 2015 baseline.4 Expanded water efficiency projects, particularly in rice and mint.
At Mars, we want to help create a world where packaging material doesn’t become waste, but is recycled, reused or composted. To address the issue, we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to reimagine and redesign our packaging. This includes reducing packaging and redesigning our portfolio to fit with the recycling infrastructure that either exists today or is likely to exist in the near future in the markets where we operate, making it easier for consumers to reuse or recycle our packaging.
In 2024, while we still have a long way to go, we made substantial progress across key areas by reducing plastic use, expanding reuse and refill initiatives, increasing recyclable packaging and advancing industry collaborations. Regardless of our redesign efforts, our products will only be fully circular when the necessary waste management, collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure exists at scale, and we are working actively with governments and NGOs to drive this change.
2024 Highlights
64.1% of our consumer-facing packaging (excluding transport or tertiary components) is designed to be reusable, recyclable or compostable.2
7% of recycled content in our portfolio.
Thriving People
As climate change and global conflict continue to impact the livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable communities, it’s more urgent than ever to invest in programs that help people not just survive but thrive. With our products touching millions of lives, we want to play our part to respect human rights and help drive positive change around the world. Our Thriving People approach is built on this belief, focusing on three key areas: advancing respect for human rights across global supply chains, improving livelihoods by increasing incomes and unlocking opportunities through women empowerment initiatives.
While creating lasting change takes time, we remain committed to the journey, with key programs demonstrating the power of partnership in driving systemic progress. Despite challenges, we are constantly reassessing our role and influence. Our continued efforts to address forced and child labor, along with other key risks, within supply chains reflect our commitment to learning and evolving, helping our actions support meaningful, long-term change.
When our Associates thrive, so does our business. Our Responsible Workplace program is designed to promote and respect the human rights of all our Associates and workers at our sites across the globe.
The Mars Workplace Code of Conduct articulates our social, environmental and ethical expectations for all Associates within Mars operations and workplaces. Aligned with international law and global frameworks, it guides our commitment to creating a responsible and ethical workplace.
Many people around the world are living in poverty or are vulnerable to exploitation. We believe that the global economy – and global businesses like ours – can do more to ensure work is a source of empowerment for individuals.
Our Human Rights Policy is rooted in our Five Principles: Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom. The policy is further shaped by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights(Opens a new window), the International Bill of Human Rights(Opens a new window) and the International Labour Organization’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work(Opens a new window).
Our Next Generation Supplier Program represents our enhanced approach to supporting sustainability among our first-tier suppliers, including aligning all suppliers with our social, environmental and ethical expectations through our Supplier Code of Conduct. In 2024, we launched five new Supplier Advance programs – on-site improvement initiatives supported by third party experts and aimed at helping suppliers confront some of the most challenging human rights risks.
Climate change presents a major threat to smallholder farmers as shifting seasons and extreme weather disrupt their livelihoods, food systems and economies.
We are focused on building resilience within our supply chain, with advancing living incomes for farmers at the heart of our Thriving People strategy.
At Mars, we believe that in the world we want tomorrow, society is inclusive. Our Associate Resource Groups (ARGs) are open to all and provide opportunities for support, communication and networking. We have five Global ARGs, which were designed to guide and support our growing 100+ chapters so we can drive better collaboration, inspire each other and maximize impact both globally and locally.
Nourishing Wellbeing
We’re dedicated to supporting our Associates’ and consumers’ wellbeing by providing a wide variety of trusted products and services, and in turn enabling people and their pets to live healthier, happier lives.
Mars Food & Nutrition is on a mission to make food that helps people thrive by providing products that are tasty, accessible and healthy. In 2024, we proudly delivered 3.5 billion healthy meals, including 309 million servings of fiber and 372 million servings of vegetables, all while reducing sodium by 5% (compared to a 2019 baseline). Our innovative products, like nutrient-packed ready meals, make it easier for consumers to enjoy nutritious, flavorful food.
At Mars, food safety is a top priority. As a global food company, we adopt a rigorous, science-based approach, implementing practical strategies to protect both people and pets, secure our business and make the most of our planet’s resources. Working with others is key to our efforts – we work with academic institutions, utilize cutting-edge technology and enhance supply chain resilience. Collectively through 2024, the Mars Global Food Safety Center (GFSC)(Opens a new window), with Supplier Quality Assurance teams, globally trained more than 600 suppliers and 10,000 participants – reaching an overall 76,000 learning completions via the GFSC capability building gateway, an online training portal.
We take seriously our commitment to market our brands responsibly and ethically. We adhere to marketing guidelines, including our Mars Global Marketing Code for Human Food, which sets the standards for how we communicate and engage with consumers. This Code applies to all marketing communications for Mars-produced and licensed human food products, covering all channels, such as advertising, packaging, and websites.
A key principle of our Code is our commitment to refrain from marketing directly to children under the age of 13, based on scientific research showing that young children may not fully understand the persuasive nature of advertising. Instead, we focus on empowering parents and guardians with the information they need to make informed decisions about their children’s diets.
To share our progress transparently, we publish an annual Mars Marketing Code Governance Report, supported by third-party audited data. Our latest results highlight our compliance performance, with 99.4% adherence to media content standards and 99.7%3 compliance with media placement standards. These results surpass our targets of 95% and 97%, respectively, and reflect a continuation of the previous year’s strong performance. Our findings indicate the effectiveness of our marketing governance practices and our commitment to responsible marketing.
Around the world, millions of cats and dogs are living on the street without appropriate levels of care and support, or in shelters. Research findings released in January 2024 as part of our State of Pet Homelessness Project(Opens a new window) compiled across 20 countries show that, for every two pets with a home, one is without – with an estimated 362 million homeless cats and dogs.
The State of Pet Homelessness Project is a global data initiative providing insights into issues which may impact pet homelessness in different countries, and aims to drive more informed and targeted action to help reduce homelessness and ensure pets get the care they need. Alongside the launch, Mars made a $500,000 donation to fund projects in India, South Africa and Mexico to make interventions informed by the data.
Governance
We view governance not as a checklist but as a generational responsibility and take a long-term view in seeking to make an impact through our sustainability efforts and investments. Our approach is grounded in forward-looking stewardship that seeks impact over generations, ensuring our sustainability strategy remains resilient and future focused.
Governance at Mars is deeply rooted in our Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom. These principles serve as the foundation of our business and our governance model and reflect our commitment to leading with ethics and integrity to create the world we want for tomorrow.
The Global Ethics & Compliance (E&C) team, led by the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), oversees our enterprise-wide commitment to upholding ethical business practices. Among other key responsibilities, the E&C team promotes and enforces the Mars Ethics & Compliance Guide, our workplace guide to winning with integrity, through training, reporting, investigations and other engagements. The team reports bi-annually to the Audit Committee of the Board on compliance activities, risks, trends and program effectiveness.
Key responsibilities include: Promote and enforce the Mars Ethics & Compliance Guide, our workplace guide to winning with integrity, through training, awareness and an annual attestation, among other engagements. Implement and oversee policies on antitrust, anti-bribery/corruption, data privacy, conflicts of interest and other compliance topics.
Sustainable governance is built through collaboration. We actively listen to and partner with a wide range of stakeholders across the value chain. This includes NGOs, governments, regulators, scientific experts, academic institutions, industry coalitions, certification bodies and supplier networks.
Our suppliers are a key stakeholder for achieving our sustainability goals. The Mars Supplier Code of Conduct articulates our social, environmental and ethical expectations for suppliers. It contains globally aligned standards and is rooted in international law. In sharing our Code of Conduct with our first-tier suppliers we make our expectations clear, aligning our suppliers with our standards and ensuring that we work with partners that share our beliefs. Our public policy engagements are guided by the Mars Principles for Public Policy Engagement, which promote transparency, fairness and alignment with our sustainability goals.
Mars is focused on fostering a speak-up culture where all Associates feel empowered to ask questions and raise issues safely, confidentially and without fear of retaliation. We offer a variety of reporting channels, including options allowing for anonymous reporting, and vigorously enforce our Non-Retaliation Policy.
Mars is committed to ensuring that the personal data that its stakeholders entrust to Mars is managed with transparency and security, in line with both regulatory requirements and Mars internal standards. In parallel, we are committed to responsible AI and digital ethics, embedding safeguards that ensure our use of technology aligns with human rights and our core values.
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Footnotes
1. This includes a small (<0.15%) contribution from soil carbon removals through climate-smart agriculture projects. Each reference to our 2015 baseline in this report refers to our restated baseline.
2. By weight, excluding tertiary and transport packaging. Our reportable data includes the consumer-packaged goods within our Mars Snacking, Mars Petcare, and Mars Food & Nutrition segments. The Mars Science and Diagnostics and the Mars Vet Health businesses are not in scope. For data reported as of Year End 2024, acquisitions not reported in 2023 such as Hotel Chocolat, Kevins and Champion Petfoods are now included.
3. Compliance data in reference to 2023 performance. Please note media data is generally subject to a one-year delay due to the reporting timelines of the U.S. TV market, with broadcast data specifically experiencing a six-month lag.
4. This does not include our own operations.
