Mars Food North America, a well noted fixture in the American food industry, made the decision last week to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand in light of social equality.
Mars Food on June 17 announced its decision to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, but details are still being determined.
External communications manager for Mars Food North America Sara Schulte said while they don’t know what the exact changes or timing will be, they are evaluating all possibilities.
“As a global brand, we know we have a responsibility to take a stand in helping to put an end to racial bias and injustices. We are listening and are prioritizing the voices of consumers, especially in the black community, and we are having honest conversations with our associates, including in Greenville,” Schulte stated in a press release.
According to Schulte, Mars recognizes that now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity, which they will do.
“Racism has no place in society. We stand in solidarity with the Black community, our Associates and our partners in the fight for social justice,” she stated. “We know to make the systemic change needed, it’s going to take a collective effort from all of us — individuals, communities and organizations of all sizes around the world.”
Mars asserts itself as a “principles-led business.” One way in which it does that Schulte said is by taking a stand and taking action on a range of societal issues — from its commitment to provide simple, healthy, tasty and affordable meals for people around the world to sustainability to female representation to helping advise pet owners.
“But, we can’t talk about these issues without addressing the full changes we want to see – across gender, ethnic and racial diversity,” Schulte said. “At Mars, we believe the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.”
Schulte went on to say being a principles-led business means having a defined ‘north star’ to guide decisions in times that are business as usual as well as in extremely uncertain times.
“During COVID-19, for instance, our associates, as always, are at the heart of our decision-making. Thus, our approach for working through this has been, and will continue to be, ensuring the safety and well-being of our Associates, doing our part to prevent the spread of the virus and caring for the communities in which we operate and live,” Schulte said. “In our Greenville factory, we quickly adapt to new ways of working throughout the COVID-19 outbreak to do our part to keep our Associates and their families safe and to maintain supply of our products through unprecedented demand increases.”
Schulte highlighted Mars’ investment in the Greenville community as Mars Food and its associates are donating $20,000 as well as their Uncle Ben’s products to Hearty Helpings Food Pantry to help feed more than 600 families per week in the Delta region.
“We also donated 5,000 surgical masks to the Delta Regional Medical Center. And we are extremely proud of our Greenville site for producing nearly $1 million of Uncle Ben’s product to donate to Feeding America,” she said.
Schulte was asked if Mars hopes to influence other such businesses or corporations to stand in solidarity with the black community and help to create positive change.
“We hope everyone agrees that racism has no place in our society or our business, and we’re hopeful that we’ll see many other companies work toward ending racism,” she said.
Schulte noted while companies and businesses may disagree on how they go about solving this issue, the important thing is that they work toward a world where everyone is treated fairly and equitably, regardless of who they are.
Schulte reiterated Mars’ position that racism has no place in society and stands in solidarity with the black community and their associates and their partners in the fight for social justice.
She explained why it is so important for the company to share its point of view at such a time as this and said, “While we had been discussing this previously, the current context makes this even more important.”
We support you — that is the message Mars wants to send to its employees and team members, especially in smaller towns or municipalities that don’t necessarily appear to be on the same accord as the company.
“The diversity of your experiences and identities strengthen our business. And we hear you,” Schulte said. “We’ll be having direct conversations with Associate Resource Groups and teams across our businesses in the coming weeks to ensure that listening continues, as we explore actions that we can take together to create greater inclusion and support for all associates.”
The company published the following statement on its website, “There is no room for discrimination in a healthy society. It’s the collective effort from individuals, communities and organizations all around the world that will replace discrimination and fear with humanity, empathy and caring.”
Director of External Communications for Mars, Kimberly West said, “It’s important we share our point of view. But words alone aren’t enough. Systemic change requires action.”
Following the statement were ways Mars would be accelerating their work in several areas, including:
* Increasing diversity in our talent and leadership pipeline. This means setting meaningful targets and reporting our progress, and creating deeper recruitment partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs);
* Investing in and partnering with organizations that fight for racial equity. We will support organizations that fight for equity, diversity and support Black-owned businesses;
* Expanding training and educational resources. This includes expanding our mandatory bias training for our 125,000 Associates globally, helping us make sure each Mars Associate knows they belong; and
* Improving diversity across our marketing, advertising, sourcing and supplier communities. An example of this is our decision to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand.
Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons has met with the Mars team to discuss the evolution of the Uncle Ben’s brand and will work in partnership with them as they move forward to make a decision about the brand’s future.
“I’m pleased to stay actively involved in this discussion, and we will ensure that Associates in the MARS Greenville factory, Greenville community leaders and local businesses as well as the collective community are part of the conversation and are heard,” he said.
Simmons noted Mars has been an active contributor and employer in Greenville for more than 40 years, and the Mars Food Greenville factory is at the heart of the Mars global brand.
“While we know what Uncle Ben’s means to the Greenville community, we must now focus on shaping the future of Uncle Ben’s for the rest of the world. Now is the right time for a change. I stand with Mars in their pursuit for racial equity, social justice and equality for all, and evolving the brand is an important step forward," he said.
