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Global Sustainability
Q&A Mars Drinks
In May, Mars Chocolate
announced that it expected
to exceed its 2012 target to
buy 20% of its cocoa from
sustainable sources certified
by Rainforest Alliance, UTZ
Certified and Fairtrade
International, putting it
on track to honour a 2009
pledge to purchase its entire
cocoa supply from certified
sustainable sources by 2020.
Mars Drinks, best known for
its Klix vending machines and
Flavia brewers, is adopting
a similar programme to
support tea and coffee
growers.
Sustainable Times
asked Mars Drinks’ Global
Sustainability Director Kate
Wylie about what she hoped
to achieve with the
Our Path
to Sustainability
initiative.
Q
Mars stated that by 2010 it wanted
to source 30% of its products from
sustainable sources.What did it mean by
that and has it met that target?
A
The target was by 2010, 30% of drinks by
net sales value would contain a proportion
of certified ingredients. By the end of 2010,
we had surpassed this for the Single Serve
category, with 38% of net sales containing
a proportion of certified ingredients.
Embedding sustainability into our business is
a journey and one we want to continue on,
hence at the end of 2010 we launched
Our
Path to Sustainability
. This includes long-
term visions and 2015 targets across the key
impact areas of our business. For sourcing,
our target is for 100% of our coffee beans
to be purchased through certified sources by
2013, and 100% of our Black tea and cocoa
by 2015 (partnering with Rainforest Alliance
and UTZ Certified).
Q
Are sales of certified drinks going up or
down? And what are the reasons for this
trend?
A
Our customers are businesses and
increasingly they are looking for suppliers
that can support them on their sustainability
journey. Our research shows that it’s
important to customers that our products are
socially and environmentally responsible.
In the UK, 55% of our customers stated
that the availability of certified drinks
within the range was important to them.
As the presence of certified drinks increases,
corporate sustainability strategies develop
further and people become more educated
and aware of the options available, this trend
will continue to rise.
Q
What sort of price premium do
sustainable choices have?
A
At Mars Drinks, there isn’t a price premium
for our customers on the drinks that are
certified.We are embedding sustainability as
part of our business and aim to support our
customers in doing so too.
Q
Is Mars just reflecting what the leading
brands are doing already or is Mars being
more proactive than that?
A
At Mars Drinks, we don’t consider becoming
more sustainable to be a choice. It is our
responsibility and we believe it is something
that we must do to ensure our business and
our customers’ businesses are successful
in the long term. As part of
Our Path to
Sustainability
, we have set ourselves very
ambitious sustainability targets in order to
continue to embed sustainability into our
business and, hopefully, encourage change
across the whole industry.
Our approach doesn’t stop at certified
products, as we focus on all social,
environmental and economic aspects of
sustainability across the key impact areas of
our business. The
Our Path to Sustainability
strategy includes the following targets for
2015:
n
Sourcing more sustainably: 100% of coffee
beans from certified sources by 2013 and
100% of black tea and cocoa from certified
sources by 2015;
n
Reducing our operational impact: Reduce
energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and
water use by 25% compared to our 2007
levels, and zero waste to landfill;
n
Developing responsible products: Reduce
the average energy use of our machine
base by 25% and make all Freshpacks
100% recyclable;
n
Supporting our customers: Enable access
to recycling infrastructure in all our major
markets (covering 95% of sales) and
increase recycling partner activity by 50%
(by tonnage); and
n
Engaging our associates: Provide all
associates with paid time off to volunteer
in their communities.
Q
What are the benefits for customers in
ordering sustainable choices?
A
By making sustainable choices, our customers
can:
1. Reduce their waste.
In the UK, Mars Drinks
was a founding member of Save-a-Cup,
a not-for-profit organisation that collects
used cups from customers for recycling, as
well as our Freshpacks, which it sends for
incineration with energy recovery.
2. Save energy and money.
Independent
trials using the European Vending
Association Energy Measurement Protocol
show that our FLAVIA Creation 400 uses
52% less energy over an average week than
leading bean-to-cup systems. Our KLIX
machines are also more energy efficient
than those offered by competitors.
3. Help others.
As well as offering certified
hot drinks, Mars Drinks has a number of
programmes that support the farmers
who grow our tea and coffee. In 2010,
Mars Drinks launched a farmer field
school initiative for tea producers in
Kenya in partnership with the Kenya Tea
Development Agency, a cooperative of
approximately 400,000 growers. This
initiative provides training for around
60 farmers, teaching them techniques
for improving tea quality and yields and
encouraging a sustainable supply for future
generations. The project has also seen the
planting of around 300 indigenous trees
and 1,000 tea seedlings to help revive tea
crops.
For further information on Mars
Drinks’ approach to sustainability,
see Mars Drinks Sustainability
Review: www.marsdrinks.co.uk/
assets/downloads/Sustainability-
Review.pdf
Below: In
addition to
leading brands,
FLAVIA single-
cup drinks
machines serve
Mars’ own Alterra
Coffee Roasters
coffee, The Bright
Tea Co. tea and
GALAXY hot
chocolate.