Snacking, food, and pet care products provider Mars announced today the launch of “Moo’ving Dairy Forward,” a new initiative aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of its dairy sourcing, backed by $47 million of investment over three years.

The new initiative follows the launch by Mars last year of a series of new climate-related goals, including a target to cut carbon emissions across its full value chain in half by 2030, in addition to a commitment to invest over $1 billion over the next three years to drive climate action.

Raw ingredients account for over 70% of the Mars’ total GHG emissions, with dairy as the second largest contributor to the carbon footprint of the company’s Snacking business. Mars’ products require the dairy from more than 200,000 cows and 1,000 farms.

Mars outlined a series of focus areas it is pursuing in its efforts to address the emissions footprint of the dairy supply chain, including partnering with dairy producers to improve feed ingredients and introduce new ingredients into feed that help reduce methane production from cows, pursuing manure management projects, and targeting feed production with regenerative agricultural practices to improve the sustainability of dairy feed crops.

As part of the new initiative, Mars is working with farmers and partners around the world to develop and test emission-reducing pilot technologies and interventions focused on enteric methane reduction, efficient manure management, and sustainable feed production.

Among its initiatives, Mars partnered with Germany’s DMK Group to launch three pilot “net zero” dairy farms, a five-year project aimed at implementing new science and technology to create a scalable and economically viable pathway to net zero dairy.  

The company has also partnered with Dutch-based dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina, on a Sustainable Dairy Development Program, and with Fonterra and Sea Forest to explore sourcing from their SEAFEED seaweed food supplement trial which reduces methane produced from cows’ digesting. In Poland, the company is launching one of the first and largest Bovaer feed additive projects in the country working with Interfood and Mlekovita.

Amanda Davies, Chief R&D, Procurement and Sustainability Officer, Mars Snacking said:

“Doing our part to keep our planet healthy is an absolute non-negotiable for us at Mars. But our vision for more sustainable dairy will only become a reality with the support and actions of farmers and our suppliers. Which is why, as part of our Moo’ving Dairy Forward Sustainable Dairy Plan, we’re putting millions of dollars directly back into the pockets of farmers through our contracts to help them make climate smart changes to the way they farm. Together, I know that we can forge a path that helps address climate change head on and contributes to reshaping our wider industry for a more sustainable future.”