Mars goes far on a sweet mission

An M&M's chocolate store in Huaihai Road in Shanghai. [Photo/China Daily]

What are your investment strategies and game plan in China?

It is important to understand that we don't look at China from a one－or two-year perspective.

We can afford to look at the long-term as we are a privately held company. Being the CEO of Mars is a challenging task. But I also don't have to explain each and every decision or analyze every quarter what we are going to invest for the long term.

It is difficult for me to explain to analysts as to why I have invested $15 million on a pre-competitive food safety center in Beijing. But I can easily convince the Mars family about the need for such a center. A private company always believes in giving back to the community in which it operates.

How do you assess the changing market conditions and operating environment in hina?

I think Chinese economy is still very strong. People are talking about 7 percent GDP growth now.

Believe me, there are lots of big economies around the world who would love to be growing, at 7 percent. Even if the growth drops to 5 percent, China is still a formidable player.

So from a business perspective I think it is all about making sure that we have the right products in the right packaging for the right occasion for the consumers at the right price point.

The Chinese economy, I think more than anything around the world, is changing dramatically and its chances are rooted to the market. We have realized this and now have more offerings available through e-commerce channels.

Mars has kept a low profile for several years. Why is it suddenly proactive about its activities and strategies?

I think technology has changed everything. You know, in the old days, there were advantages of not being on the radar. But today, it is a different story as we are surrounded by social media, Facebook, Snapchat and various other platforms.

If you don't tell your story, someone else will tell the story that they think they should tell on your behalf. One of the things all of them are unanimous about is that we have a great story to tell. So we realized that it is better for us to tell it in our own words.

We want to do something more than just make money. Rather, we want to wake up in the morning and feel that we have made a difference to the society. This will help people to understand what we stand for, what we believe in and what they can expect from us.

Is Mars planning to expand its e-commerce initiatives?

We are going to be there where the consumers are. The consumer is our boss. So if the consumer is shopping over the wireless, then we will be there also. If they shop elsewhere, we want to be there.