The world looks quite different from when Frank Mars started selling candy out of his Tacoma, Washington, kitchen in 1911. Today the family-owned business is driven by what consumers want and prioritize. The company’s Food & Nutrition segment is focused on making food that is not just tasty but also convenient and healthy.
In a recent conversation between McKinsey partner Biljana Cvetanovski and Shaid Shah, Mars Food & Nutrition global president, the two discussed how through recent expansions, acquisitions, and AI-enabled tools, the business segment is disrupting food aisles in more than 30 markets across the world.
Giving consumers what they want
Biljana Cvetanovski: What consumer trends are you watching most closely?
Shaid Shah: In every role throughout my career, I’ve observed a commonality: Cultures are defined by food and people’s love for food. To me, food is the fabric of humanity, fuelling our bodies, giving us the nutrients we need, and bringing us together as families, friends, and communities to create lasting memories.
Over the past two decades, we’ve witnessed significant changes in consumer needs and expectations, and this is shaping our strategy in the Food & Nutrition segment at Mars. People’s lives are busier than ever before, impacting the way they prepare and consume food. For example, in the US, while 48 percent of people are spending fewer than 15 minutes daily preparing dinner, they don’t want to sacrifice taste or health. Nearly 50 percent of people across all age groups globally say eating healthier is a top priority for them.
We’re seeing these trends shaped by Gen Z and millennial consumers, and we expect this to continue with Gen Alpha—influencing behaviours that will become pervasive across the industry. These consumers take a holistic view: they care about everything, from how sustainable a product is to its impact on their mental and physical health, to its value for money. As a business, we have to make sure we are responding to this with our products.
Biljana Cvetanovski: With health and convenience equal priorities for consumers, how are you delivering on these expectations?
Shaid Shah: At Mars we firmly believe the consumer is our boss and we need to meet changing consumer needs to drive growth. We are constantly looking to develop and innovate in areas that meet new consumer needs and culinary trends.
For example, in the summer of 2024, we expanded into the ready-meals space, with the launch of Ben’s Original Street Food in the US and Canada, and Ben’s Original Lunch Bowls and Favourites in the UK. We are growing our portfolio of some of the world’s best-loved brands by tapping into trending categories such as global cuisines and flavours.
To deliver on people’s desires for healthier food, we have put in place ambitious health and well-being commitments and strict nutrition criteria that guide our innovations and product formulations. We’re also acquiring trailblazing businesses in the nutritious meals space, such as Kevin’s Natural Foods, acquired in 2023.
Making purpose core to the business
Biljana Cvetanovski: Consumers care about where their food comes from, the environmental impact it creates, and the livelihoods of those producing it. How does this drive your corporate strategies?
Shaid Shah: We believe that business success and positive societal impact go hand in hand. In the Food & Nutrition segment, we are committed to making a positive impact by ensuring more people have access to delicious, healthy food, while also protecting the environment and supporting our farmers.
The Mars Compass is one way we hold ourselves to account. Introduced in 2018, the Mars Compass sets out expectations for how we should lead our business. It puts positive societal impact and being a trusted partner alongside financial performance and quality growth.
Being a family-owned, privately held business means we can take a long-term view. We’re not just looking at how nutritious food can be produced sustainably for the next quarter, but for generations to come. One example of this is in our work with rice farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices such as alternate wetting and drying. These practices can reduce water usage by up to 30 percent and cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 percent, while protecting yields.
A long-term approach—thinking in generations rather than quarters—is essential for embedding sustainable practices and protecting the future of food production.
Biljana Cvetanovski: How does Mars foster inclusivity?
Shaid Shah: We prioritize creating an inclusive environment where our people are valued and respected, irrespective of any differences. This is something we measure every year through our engagement surveys, which we then use to create and deliver our follow-through plans.
I’m proud that our leadership teams at Mars Food & Nutrition are gender balanced. We are investing in talent and forward-looking capabilities, as well as expanding leadership training for women across regions and functions. Through initiatives like Women Leading Purposefully, we’ve empowered over 500 colleagues across Mars and are continuing to develop new initiatives to empower leaders at every level.
Beyond our internal work, we’re also using our brands to make a difference. We’re helping to create opportunities in the hospitality sector for underrepresented ethnic minorities through the Ben’s Original Seat at the Table scholarship fund.
Building a future-ready business
Biljana Cvetanovski: What are ways you are using AI to transform your marketing and sales strategies?
Shaid Shah: We’ve implemented what we call the AI Test Kitchen (AITK), which is focused on designing, validating, piloting, and scaling AI use cases such as analysing and predicting consumer trends, to drive our digital transformation. This has enabled us to develop innovations like our Ben’s Original ready meals faster than ever before.
We’re also using AI in our content creation and to optimize our media buying. This is reinventing the way we communicate with consumers, helping us serve them in much more personalized ways. This means focusing more on digital and social channels, which is increasingly where we see consumers shopping and engaging with our brands, especially Gen Z and millennials.
Biljana Cvetanovski: Looking ahead, where do you see the greatest growth opportunities and challenges for Mars?
Shaid Shah: As we operate with more pressures—whether it’s inflation, shifting geopolitics, or climate change— there is an increasing need to be adaptable to deliver for consumers and our customers.
One major area that presents both a challenge and opportunity for us, and the entire food industry at large, is feeding a growing global population both healthily and sustainably. Over half of the world’s population isn’t getting the right nutrition, and by 2050 we will need to feed ten billion people sustainably. We need to transform the way healthy food is produced and consumed today and for future generations, and I see Mars Food & Nutrition being at the forefront of those efforts.
When it comes to our people and the talent we bring in and nurture at Mars, I’m tremendously excited by what we can do. There are so many different roles at Mars, you could spend a whole career here and only get through a fraction of them. The variety of opportunities, entrepreneurial culture, passion for food, and the diverse experiences on offer are what I love about this business and a big reason why so many people, including myself, stay for decades.
