Inside Mars' US$20m Rice Supply Chain Resilience Commitment

Global food supply chains are under immense pressure from the escalating climate crisis and staple crops like rice are particularly vulnerable.

As a foundational food source for more than half the world’s population, its stability is critical.

To secure its sourcing and support farming communities, Mars has committed US$20m to its rice programmes by 2030.

The investment is designed to help farmers adopt climate-smart agricultural practices and build resilience against environmental shocks. As the owner of Ben’s Original, one of the world’s largest rice brands, Mars has a clear interest in ensuring a stable and sustainable rice supply.

"Rice is a daily staple for billions of people and provides an income to millions of farmers around the world, but climate change is placing extraordinary pressure on this vital crop," says Dale Creaser, Global Vice President of Supply Chain at Mars Food & Nutrition. 

"As the owners of Ben’s Original, one of the world’s largest rice brands, we have a responsibility to act. This US$20m investment is about backing our farmers with the tools, technology and training support they need to adapt and thrive in a changing environment.

“It’s also about future-proofing our business to ensure we’re building a resilient food supply chain. We're committed to making rice farming more sustainable and protecting yields and livelihoods for our farmers today and for generations to come."

Understanding the climate risks

The challenges facing rice are rooted in traditional farming methods. For centuries, the crop has been grown in flooded paddies, which consumes vast amounts of water and creates an oxygen-free environment where methane-producing microbes thrive. 

This dependency on water is a critical vulnerability. Rice cultivation accounts for up to 43% of global irrigation water, making the supply chain highly susceptible to drought and water scarcity. As weather patterns become more erratic, the reliability of this water-intensive model is diminishing.

Climate change also directly threatens crop yields. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects a potential global rice yield decline of 10-15% by 2050, a catastrophic loss for global food security.

The crop is also extremely sensitive to temperature. A rise above 35°C for just one hour can render rice pollen sterile, preventing grain formation. Furthermore, warmer nights, which are becoming more frequent, can disrupt the plant's respiratory process and reduce overall yield.

To counter these threats, Mars is championing regenerative agriculture through its ‘Raising Rice Right’ platform. This initiative focuses on promoting sustainable methods that restore soil health and reduce environmental impact.

Building supply chain resilience

Techniques like Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) offer a clear path to a more resilient supply chain. AWD involves periodically draining rice paddies rather than keeping them continuously flooded, which dramatically reduces water use and methane production.

This transition to regenerative practices directly benefits farmers. By improving soil health and using precision nutrient management, the need for costly synthetic fertilisers and pesticides is lowered, reducing their operational costs.

Building crop resilience through healthier soil also minimises crop loss from extreme weather. For Mars, this investment strengthens its supplier base, ensuring farmers can maintain productivity even in the face of climate uncertainty.

The investment is a key part of Mars' wider ‘Sustainable in a Generation Plan’, a strategy to reduce its environmental footprint. The US$20m commitment will fund direct collaboration with farmers and suppliers to implement climate-smart practices like AWD.

The results are already visible. A farm in Arkansas, US, that adopted AWD successfully cut its water usage by 60% and its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 60%, compared to regional averages for conventional rice farming.

Furthering its commitment to industry-wide transformation, Mars is a founding member of the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP). The SRP is a global multi-stakeholder alliance that promotes resource efficiency and sustainability in the rice sector, empowering smallholder farmers far beyond Mars’ own supply chain.