Thriving People
Helping to improve the lives of 1 million people across our value chain.
As a family-owned business driven by The Five Principles, we are committed to respecting and empowering the people in our value chain.
That’s why our Sustainable in a Generation Plan includes our Thriving People ambition to help improve the lives of 1 million people across our value chain to enable them to thrive.
To do this, we’re engaging a network of partners — from NGOs to governments — and focusing on three areas where we believe we can drive meaningful change: respecting human rights, increasing income and unlocking opportunities for women.
Respecting Human Rights
Respecting human rights is a foundation of any successful and sustainable business. Yet challenges to human rights are widespread across the global economy and can be particularly complex at the farthest ends of global supply chains.
From veterinarians and factory workers in Chicago to farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, our intent is for everyone touched by our business to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect. Our work is guided by Mars’ global Human Rights Policy and Protecting Children Action Plan, in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Increasing Income
At Mars, we believe everyone working within our extended supply chains should earn sufficient income to meet the basic needs of themselves and their families. There are an estimated 500 million(Opens a new window) smallholder farmer households globally, many of whom live in poverty. Although we rarely purchase directly from farmers, we recognize that investing in livelihoods is both the right thing to do and vital for the long-term sustainability of our supply chains, which is why increasing income is a core piece of our human rights strategy.
To secure and sustain resilient farmer livelihoods we’re investing in activities to improve farmer income, beginning with our cocoa, mint and rice supply chains, which extend from Côte d’Ivoire to India. We also created the Farmer Income Lab, a collaborative “think-do tank” to share research and insights to enable continuous learning and accelerate industry-wide action.
Unlocking Opportunity for Women
Equal opportunities fuel our ability to grow and thrive as a business and help enable women across our value chain to reach their Full Potential. This work advances our Purpose, reinforces the Five Principles, contributes to our Inclusion & Diversity goals and drives us toward our Sustainable in a Generation Plan ambitions.
Women have long played a powerful role in our history as a family-owned, privately held business, and their success is critical to our shared future. We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their Full Potential, and our Full Potential platform supports equal opportunities for women across our workplaces, sourcing communities and the marketplace.
We seek to improve opportunities for women in our supply chain through programs that support women’s livelihoods, including Village Savings and Loan programs in West Africa and development programs for women in India. These programs help women and their families thrive.
Policies and Practices
Our global policies guide our work to help people thrive. Our work is guided by Mars’ global Human Rights Policy and Mars Workplace and Supplier Codes of Conduct details our human rights standards and expectations for our own Associates and our suppliers.
