Neither horrific nor heroic, Mars scores poorly in terms of supporting women and protecting land rights, but fares better when it comes to transparency and recognizing issues faced by small-scale farmers.
We assessed publicly available information on the policies and commitments of the 'Big 10' food companies towards the sourcing of agricultural commodities from developing countries. The Scorecard looks at seven themes, weighing each theme equally. The index tackles some cutting edge issues that will require rigorous debate and dialogue between companies, civil society and industry experts. Find out more...
It’s hard to find positive things to say about Mars’ land policy. Not only does it lack any real knowledge, but its making no effort to do or find out more.
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Mars might be a giant company, but its ambitions for supporting women in its supply chain are very small indeed. One of the worst of the Big Ten on this issue.
Performing strongly among the Big Ten on support for farmers, Mars is tackling many issues faced by producers. Its code for suppliers needs a sharper farmer focus, though.
Mars shows some general understanding of issues faced by workers but – like many of the Big Ten – has too little specific information about workers throughout its supply chain.
Scoring well on awareness but badly on action, Mars keeps quiet about its own climate impact, hasn’t set emissions targets related to agriculture and isn’t helping farmers adapt. It’s time for change.
For a private company, Mars is unusually open about the nature of its audits. It needs to reveal more about where its commodities come from, however.
Mars shows little understanding of the value of water, keeps quiet about its water use and doesn’t give water guidelines to suppliers. Time for a serious refresh.