Snacking, food, and pet care products provider Mars announced that it aims to achieve a physically segregated global cocoa supply chain by 2030, building on its existing commitment to only use responsibly sourced cocoa in its products by creating greater transparency in its cocoa supply chain.

Mars is a major user of cocoa, with more than 350,000 farmers in its global supply chain. Cocoa sourcing has been associated with several sustainability-related risks, including environmental issues such as deforestation, ecosystem degradation and climate change, and human rights risks such as child labor, forced labor, and poverty.

According to the company, under a segregated global cocoa supply chain, Mars will be able to make products only using cocoa which has been produced and sourced from farms participating in the Mars Responsibly Sourced Cocoa Program or which meet the cocoa certifications standards of Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and other certification bodies approved by the company.

By achieving a segregated global cocoa supply chain, Mars said it would have greater visibility through its suppliers to the farming organizations and farmers who provide cocoa for Mars products, and will be able to better support those suppliers and their farming organizations and farmers in helping advance respect for human rights and preserving the environment. The new initiative is an enhancement of its Responsibly Sourced Cocoa Program, in which the company aims to ensure that 100% of its cocoa is responsibly sourced and traceable to the first point of purchase.

As part of the initiative, Mars said that over the next five years it would work with cocoa suppliers to ensure that cocoa that meets its standards would be physically segregated from cocoa from other sources, that cocoa converted into ingredients are segregated from other ingredients, and that those ingredients are the ones delivered to Mars factories for use in making Mars chocolate and finished products.

Harper McConnell, Global Vice President of Cocoa Sustainability at Mars, said:

“The move to a segregated global cocoa supply chain is a significant undertaking that builds on our years of investment in our responsibly sourced cocoa program. It will enable us to target interventions providing more focused support for cocoa growing communities in our supply chain. This ambition is part of a holistic, long-term approach by Mars to contribute towards the development of a modern, inclusive and sustainable cocoa ecosystem around the globe.”

In 2018, Mars announced a $1 billion USD investment in its ‘Cocoa for Generations’ strategy, which through 2028 will, among other things, enable the company to help tackle environmental issues, such as deforestation, on its journey to achieving its goal of reaching Net Zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the company’s full value chain by 2050, and halving emissions by 2030.