HBR IdeaCast – "Future of Business: Mars CEO on How Business Can Be a Force for Good"

Host: Adi Ignatius (A)
Guest: Paul Weihrauch (B), CEO of Mars, Incorporated
Date: December 11, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of HBR IdeaCast features a conversation with Paul Weihrauch, CEO of Mars, Incorporated, exploring how Mars leverages its scale and family ownership to be a force for good—balancing profit, purpose, and societal impact. The discussion covers Mars's ambitious sustainability commitments, the challenges of supply chain transformation, the evolving nature of leadership, and the integration of purpose into both business strategy and company culture.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Family-Owned Advantage & Long-Term Thinking

• Mars's Unique Perspective:

  • As a family-owned company since 1911, Mars has a multi-generational lens rather than a quarterly focus.
  • Quote [02:00]:

    “We like to think, we think in generations and not just in quarters. And because of our ownership, we carry the name of our owners on the door. We have an obligation to make sure that we behave well in society.” — Paul Weihrauch

• Balancing Short and Long Term:

  • Even with the long-term perspective, Mars must deliver short-term results.
  • Quote [02:57]:

    “You can't just focus on the long term. A business is run by delivering short term and delivering long term ... you have to do both.” — Paul Weihrauch

Shareholder Expectations & Purpose Integration

• Purpose in Shareholder Mandate:

  • Mars’s literal management “compass” includes four quadrants: growth, healthy P&L, reputation, and positive societal impact.
  • Shareholders demand progress on all four metrics, not just financials.
  • Quote [03:12]:

    “One [objective] is about growth, one is about a healthy P and L. One is about reputation and one is positive societal impact. ... My story is that 40% of my compensation is on non-financial metrics.” — Paul Weihrauch

• Concrete Sustainability Goals:

  • Mars aims to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (from a 2015 baseline) and reach net zero by 2050.

The Challenge of Scope 3 Emissions & Supply Chain Engagement

• Emissions Beyond the Company:

  • 85% of Mars's environmental footprint sits outside the company, mostly with ingredient suppliers.
  • Major focus on cocoa (deforestation) and other key agricultural inputs.
  • Scaling solutions across global supply chains is the toughest hurdle.
  • Quote [04:42]:

    “The toughest part is about 85% of our environmental footprint sits outside the companies... working with predominantly farmers across the world.” — Paul Weihrauch

• Workforce Engagement:

  • Employees are eager to participate in sustainability.
  • Quote [05:44]:

    “If you ask... 'who would like to contribute to a better world tomorrow through lowering our greenhouse gases... you have a whole forest of hands coming up and wanting to contribute.'” — Paul Weihrauch

Navigating Political Backlash on Climate

• Staying the Course Amid Skepticism:
  • Weihrauch dismisses the idea that climate action is political for Mars; it’s an operational imperative.
  • Cites direct impacts of climate change on core business (e.g. water scarcity in former rice-growing regions).
  • Quote [06:31, 06:44]:

    “There is no person on this planet who cannot say that there are significant impacts because of climatic changes...” — Paul Weihrauch
    “It is a topic. If we want people to have access to great affordable nutrition, this is something we need to lean into.” — Paul Weihrauch

Translating Purpose into Action on the Ground

• From Objectives to Daily Operations:
  • Mars’s “compass” is tied directly to manager compensation and operational targets.
  • Examples include:
    • Cocoa sourcing: Satellite monitoring for deforestation; working with co-ops in West Africa, Indonesia, Latin America.
    • Pet food: Reformulation to favor environmentally lighter ingredients (e.g., prioritizing poultry over beef).
    • Packaging: Ongoing projects for recyclable and biodegradable options.
  • Quote [08:36]:

    “We started working on what are the crops that have the biggest impact in our supply chain... On cocoa, what we needed to make sure was that we sourced cocoa from regions without deforestation.” — Paul Weihrauch

Embedding Sustainability: Making It Part of Business

• Integration with Finance & Planning:
  • Sustainability is now reviewed alongside financials in Mars’s business planning cycle.
  • Over time, it becomes routine—“part of your daily life.”
  • Quote [11:18]:

    “We have tried to integrate sustainability in the way we do business. So we actually moved the responsibility... into finance to make sure that when we review the plan...” — Paul Weihrauch

Trade-offs: Growth, Innovation, and Responsible Business

• Reconciling Purpose and Profit:

  • Mars views purpose and profit as mutually supportive, not antagonistic.
  • Willing to invest heavily ($700 million/year) in sustainability, even when short-term financial gains would be higher elsewhere.
  • Consumers reward brands for transparent, meaningful positive impact.
  • Quote [13:14]:

    “Purpose and profit are not enemies, that it is our task, that we have to do both. ... In the long term, consumers will vote with their feet. They will want to buy responsible products.” — Paul Weihrauch

• Marketing Sustainability:

  • Direct claims about specific improvements (e.g. recyclable packaging) yield tangible sales benefits.
  • Quote [15:02]:

    “Consumers absolutely understand biodegradable packaging... if you make claims on it, you can prove an uplift in sales.” — Paul Weihrauch

Growth Strategy: Build vs. Buy

• Organic vs. Acquisition-driven Growth:
  • 80% of Mars’s growth over the past five years has been organic.
  • Acquisitions serve to accelerate entry into strategic spaces (e.g., pet healthcare), with further growth achieved organically after the buy.
  • Cultural and market shifts (e.g., increased veterinary care for pets) inform these decisions.
  • Quote [16:05]:

    “The most important part of our growth is organic... but sometimes you have to say, okay, to step change and make a transformation. Here I really need to double down and acquire a company.” — Paul Weihrauch

Personal Leadership & Continuous Learning

• Advice for Long-Serving Executives:
  • Curiosity and personal development are vital for innovation, preventing legacy thinking.
  • Engaging with broader society and over-investing in personal learning keeps leadership fresh.
  • Quote [18:47]:

    “The most important [element] is personal learning. ... The way you learn, you need high curiosity.” — Paul Weihrauch

Capital Allocation: Balancing Returns and Responsibility

• Goal-Based Investment Approach:
  • Sustainability investments are assigned specific targets—returns are measured differently (some are foundational, not ROI-driven).
  • Over time, sustainable investments often prove financially sound.
  • Quote [20:04]:

    “We have an allocated number in sustainability that is linked to our goal. ... Not all of our investments have the same requirements. ... We have found out that it becomes cheaper and cheaper to invest in sustainability over time.” — Paul Weihrauch

Navigating Regulatory and Supply Chain Uncertainty

• Resilience Over Prediction:
  • Mars builds local manufacturing to hedge against tariffs and regulatory shifts.
  • Complete local sourcing may not be feasible for all inputs (e.g., cocoa), but resiliency remains key.
  • Quote [23:04]:

    “The most important thing is resiliency, to build up a supply chain that is resilient enough to take some of these hits...” — Paul Weihrauch

Leadership Qualities for the Future

• Emphasis on Empathy and Self-Awareness:

  • Today’s leaders must manage a more open, value-driven workplace with outside societal debates entering company walls.
  • Empathy, listening, and self-awareness are more vital than ever before.
  • Quote [25:14, 26:24]:

    “The most important thing as a leader is to have empathy and listen. ... Self awareness is more important today than what it was in the past because the softer values of leadership are much more in focus today.” — Paul Weihrauch

• Classic Education & Values:

  • As technology accelerates, human values and broad education (e.g., history, literature, culture) become key for major decisions, especially in areas like AI.

Prioritizing Social Impact Initiatives

• Multidimensional Approach Anchored in Legacy:
  • Mars’s Five Principles, including ‘mutuality,’ guide investments across sustainability, nutrition, quality, DEI, and beyond.
  • Employee tenure outperforms industry averages, a sign of effective value-driven leadership.
  • Quote [28:59]:

    “People in our CPG business... stay with us 3.8 times longer than the average in the industry. And that is a brilliant investment because, because we have great people.” — Paul Weihrauch

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On integrating purpose into business:

  “We take it as serious as we do with the financial P and L.” — Paul Weihrauch [08:36]

• On climate as a business, not political, challenge:

  “It would not be responsible of me to run a company and say, ah, let's just ignore that and keep going as is. We can't do that.” — Paul Weihrauch [07:50]

• On learning and innovation:

  “Always be curious about the world, about business, about business models. And that would automatically lead you there.” — Paul Weihrauch [18:47]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:50] – Family ownership & long-term thinking
• [03:12] – Purpose guiding compensation and business objectives
• [04:42] – Sustainability challenges: Scope 3 emissions & supply chain
• [06:31] – Responding to climate backlash as a business
• [08:36] – Turning targets into operational reality (cocoa, pet food, packaging)
• [11:18] – Embedding sustainability into daily business/fiscal planning
• [13:14] – Addressing trade-offs between responsibility and growth
• [15:02] – Consumer response to clear sustainability marketing
• [16:05] – Growth strategy: organic vs. acquisitions
• [18:47] – Lifelong learning and innovation in leadership
• [20:04] – Capital allocation and measuring returns on sustainability
• [23:04] – Managing regulatory uncertainty with supply chain resiliency
• [24:52] – Leadership qualities for the next generation
• [28:09] – How Mars prioritizes social good initiatives

Conclusion

Paul Weihrauch’s conversation with HBR IdeaCast provides a deep dive into how Mars intertwines profit and purpose on a global scale, especially by leveraging its unique family ownership structure, investing in sustainability at every level, and shaping an adaptive leadership philosophy centered around empathy and continuous learning.

Leaders tuning in will find a roadmap for balancing the demands of modern business with the imperative to contribute positively to society—making Mars a powerful case for business as a lasting force for good.