Reid is one of four CEOs representing the food and agriculture sectors to join the Business Commission, including Unilever, Olam and Yara.
“Our central focus is to show companies that growth and sustainability are not mutually exclusive, but rather, that sustainable business models can drive massive growth,” said Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, Chair of the Business Commission. “The leadership of the food industry is critical to devising innovative products, solutions and approaches that will nourish the world’s poor, unlock employment opportunities, and open new markets. For this reason, we are very pleased to welcome Grant Reid as a commissioner to the Business Commission.”
“As a private, family-owned company, Mars has the freedom to think in terms of generations, not only quarters. We strive to build our business through win-win relationships that provide benefits to our customers, consumers and our company,” said Grant F. Reid, Office of the President and CEO, Mars Incorporated. “I am honored to serve on the Business and Sustainable Development Commission and look forward to working with the other Commissioners to showcase the myriad ways business and society benefit through sustainable development.”
Before becoming CEO in 2014, Reid served as President of Mars Global Chocolate, and championed industry efforts to collaborate on the issue of cocoa sustainability. He has instrumental in growing the Mars’ Sustainable Cocoa Initiative, which puts “farmers first” in its efforts to increase crop productivity and helps farmers improve their wages and their ability to give their families better opportunities for education and a more prosperous future.
Based in McLean, Virginia, Mars has net sales of more than $35 billion and diverse business segments: Mars Petcare, Mars Chocolate, Wrigley, Mars Food, Mars Drinks and Mars Symbioscience.
Grant joins 31 other Commissioners, including CEOs Paul Polman, Unilever; Ho Ching, Temasek; Mads Nipper, Grundfos; Sunny Verghese, Olam; John Fallon, Pearson; and Helen Hai, Made in Africa; as well as leaders from major business organisations, including Lise Kingo, UN Global Compact; Peter Bakker, the World Business Council on Sustainable Development; Sharon Burrow, International Trade Union Confederation, and many others. Our Commissioners are essential to shaping the Business Commission’s flagship report, to be published in January 2017, which will serve as the foundation for mobilising the private sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.