Mars is visiting Fonterra's head office and shareholder farms this week.
Mars is visiting Fonterra's head office and shareholder farms this week.
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Srikanth Ramachandran is the Global Director for Dairy at the family-owned Mars company. Mars is behind some much-loved products that are sold globally – many of which feature dairy ingredients made right here in New Zealand. This week Mars is visiting Fonterra’s head officeand shareholder farms.
The Country Sport Breakfast’s Brian Kelly asked Ramachandran, why Fonterra was important to Mars.
“Every second, over 1000 of our snacks are eaten around the world, which requires plenty of dairy, so Fonterra is an important partner for us,” Ramachandran said.
“We source a lot of our dairy ingredients from the co-op for a range of our products, including our wellness snacks and of course our famous brands, the likes of Snickers, M&Ms and Twix.”
Hearing a lot about customers’ interest in Fonterra’s sustainability story, Kelly asked if this was something Mars was interested in as well.
“Keeping our planet healthy is non-negotiable for Mars,” Ramachandran said.
Sourcing sustainably produced milk is a priority for Mars, which launched its Mars Sustainable in a Generation Plan in 2017, with a commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Part of this plan is to transform its agricultural supply chain.
Ramachandran said dairy represented a sizeable proportion of Mars’ footprint.
“We need to reduce this to meet not only consumer needs but also the expectations of governments and others.”
He said Mars could see real commitment in this space from Fonterra.
This was a key reason Mars wanted to keep building the relationship.
“That’s why we’re in New Zealand this week.”
Srikanth Ramachandran is the Global Director for Dairy at the family-owned Mars company.
Over 70 per cent of Mars Snacking emissions come from raw material production in its value chain, Ramachandran said.
“We are not saying it’s easy, but we are committed to working with the farming community to deliver real and lasting change.”
Ramachandran said that, together, with long-term partners like Fonterra, Mars could forge a path that not only mitigated climate change impacts but also reshaped its wider industry for a more sustainable future.
In New Zealand, Ramachandran was going to visit a farm or two and also stop by a Fonterra Farm Source store.
Kelly asked him what he was looking to get out of the visit.
“There’s nothing like visiting farms in person to get a deeper understanding of the current challenges and opportunities that farmers face,” Ramachandran said.
He said this was an important part of the visit because Mars wanted to continue to support farmers throughout their journey to reduce on-farm emissions.
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Mars was also in New Zealand to show support for the Greener Choice programme which had recently launched in Farm Source stores, he said.
The programme is aimed at making it easier for farmers to buy products that can help them make sustainability improvements on farms.
“We’re discussing other ways to help recognise and support farmers, and we expect to share more positive updates this year.”
Ramachandran said Mars recognised that Fonterra farmers were working hard to make their farms more sustainable.
“We’ve already seen the evidence of this with the very impressive on-farm insights that the co-operative can provide us.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Fonterra on this journey.”
