Mars accelerates progress towards 100% responsibly sourced cocoa traceable from farm to first point of purchase by 2025
350,000 farmers in their supply chain rely on cocoa for their livelihoods. Cocoa isn’t just a key ingredient for some of our best-loved brands, like DOVE®/GALAXY® and M&Ms®, it is an essential part of our heritage. For over 100 years, they’ve been sourcing cocoa from around the globe. But their commitment goes beyond our own success – it’s about the farmers we depend on and that mutual reliance is what drives us to continually strive to make a meaningful difference in the cocoa sector.
“Our ultimate goal is to foster a modern, inclusive and sustainable cocoa ecosystem. That means the environment is preserved, human rights are respected and everyone has the opportunity to thrive,” states Andrew Clarke, Mars Snacking President.
So, how are Mars making this vision a reality? Through their “Cocoa for Generations” strategy. They’re investing one billion dollars over a decade, starting in 2018, to accelerate change. By 2025, they’re committed to have 100% of their cocoa responsibly sourced and traceable from farm to the first point of purchase and 100% deforestation and conversion-free.
Their annual Cocoa for Generations report highlights our efforts. We’re proud of the strides we’ve made:
- As of January 2023, all the cocoa used for producing your beloved products including SNICKERS®, M&M’s®, Mars® bar, DOVE®/GALAXY®, Maltesers® and MILKY WAY® at our direct factory operations in Europe is 100% verified Responsibly Sourced cocoa.
- Our cutting-edge research centers are opening up new possibilities for agronomy and smallholder farmers. In 2022, we introduced a game-changing app that lets farmers assess the health of cacao trees with a simple tap.
- 89% (>215.000) of the farm plots in our Responsibly Sourced Cocoa program have been polygon mapped, tracing the entire perimeter of a farm rather than just one GPS location point to increase transparency and traceability.
- Our “Women for Change” program, in collaboration with CARE, has reached over 77,000 members by the end of 2022, collectively saving over $7.4 million to reinvest in their businesses and families.
- We’re making groundbreaking progress to bring 15,000 cocoa farmers on a path to a sustainable living income by 2030 through breakthrough collaborations with Fairtrade, USAID, I4DI, ECOOKIM, Solidaridad West Africa, Touton and the Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming.
As Amber Johnson, Mars’Global Vice President, Mars Cocoa Enterprise says, “We are proud that we are on track to meet our 2025 commitments, and while our ambition is some distance away, we remain encouraged by the forward movement and progress we continue to make.”
Their pledge for the future is clear: We’re committed to strengthening our Cocoa for Generations strategy. They’re investing where it counts, forging powerful partnerships and relentlessly building the world we want to see tomorrow.
Read the progress here.
