Mars’ future food strategy: overview
- Mars prioritises taste, convenience and health equally across innovation
- Fibre delivery across Mars Food & Nutrition portfolio increased 73%
- Only one in nine consumers currently consumes sufficient fibre
- Solo meals are rising as younger consumers seek convenience
- AI is accelerating product development and consumer trend analysis
What will people be eating in 2036?
According to Mars, Inc., the answer involves more fibre, smarter technology, greater personalisation and a continued focus on convenience.
As one of the biggest players in global food, the American multinational’s investing heavily in understanding how consumer habits are evolving, from the rapid rise of solo meals to growing interest in gut health and nutrition.
For Karina Zimerfeld, global vice president of research and development at Mars Food & Nutrition, the challenge isn’t simply creating healthier products. It’s delivering food that’s healthy, convenient and enjoyable all at the same time.
“Consumers want something that’s delicious, convenient and healthy,” she says. “That’s why we invest equally in these three strategic priorities.”
For Mars, that means ensuring health credentials never come at the expense of enjoyment.
“I can make an amazingly healthy product, but if it doesn’t taste amazing consumers won’t buy it.”
That balance between taste and nutrition sits at the heart of Mars’ innovation strategy and has shaped the company’s approach to health for over 10 years.
Reducing negatives, promoting positives
While health has become an increasingly prominent industry focus in recent years, Mars has been working in this area for more than a decade. Since launching Mars Food Nutrition Criteria in 2015, based on recognised external guidance including WHO recommendations, the company has been steadily evolving its approach to nutrition across its portfolio.
Initially, efforts focused on reducing nutrients consumers are encouraged to limit, particularly sodium and saturated fat. More recently, however, the focus has shifted towards what Zimerfeld calls “positive nutrition”.
That means increasing ingredients and nutrients consumers need more of, including vegetables, wholegrains, pulses and fibre.
“We then made a commitment to not only look to the nutrients we want to limit, but particularly the nutrients and ingredients we want to promote,” she explains.
And the strategy’s already having a measurable impact, with Mars increasing the amount of fibre delivered across its Food & Nutrition portfolio by 73% since 2021.
Fibre matters more than ever
While protein continues to dominate headlines and supermarket shelves, Mars sees fibre as one of the biggest long-term opportunities in nutrition.
“I’ve seen the trend of protein rising for the last several years,” says Zimerfeld. “I’m really happy to see that.”
For Mars, the potential lies in addressing one of the biggest nutritional shortfalls in modern diets. While protein has become a consumer obsession, fibre remains critically under-consumed, despite growing awareness of its importance to health.
“The fact that only one in every nine consumers out there actually gets enough fibre is astonishing.”
And the challenge is particularly acute among younger consumers, whose eating habits are increasingly shaped by busy lifestyles and convenience-led meal occasions.
Mars research found that while more than 70% of consumers recognise fibre is important to health, only around 20-25% actively prioritise it.
“That discrepancy between what people want and how they behave is where we feel there’s an opportunity for us to engage and support consumers.”
Underpinning that challenge is a broader shift in how consumers eat, with solo meals becoming an increasingly important part of modern lifestyles.
The rise of solo meals
One of the biggest behavioural shifts Mars is monitoring is the rise of solo dining.
Far from being viewed negatively, younger consumers increasingly see eating alone as an act of self-care and personal wellbeing.
“They actually feel it is a positive thing for them, not a sign of loneliness,” says Zimerfeld.
At the same time, consumers have less time than ever to think about food. Many decide what to eat shortly before meal times and often have limited time to prepare meals from scratch.
As a result, convenience is becoming more and more important, particularly when it comes to delivering nutritious meals that fit modern lifestyles.
“How do we bridge that?” Zimerfeld asks. “How do we help to eliminate those barriers that are standing between that generation looking for solo meals and wanting to have a good meal that they feel good about?”
For Mars, winning with future consumers means creating meals that make healthier choices easier without adding complexity.
Supporting those ambitions will be advances in technology, which Mars sees as central to accelerating innovation and improving nutrition outcomes.
Technology and AI accelerate innovation
While ingredient innovation remains important, Zimerfeld believes some of the biggest breakthroughs will come from combining consumer insight, culinary expertise and manufacturing technologies that make nutritious food convenient and scalable.
Artificial intelligence is already helping the business identify trends faster, understand changing consumer preferences and shorten development cycles.
“It’s very interesting. We learn something new every single day.”
The maker of major brands including Ben’s Original, Tasty Bite, Seeds of Change, Galaxy, Snickers, Mars and Maltesers is also exploring how AI can reduce the number of development iterations required before products reach consumers.
“If you can leapfrog yourself and accelerate the innovation cycle, it’s a significant tool.”
And, while AI is already changing the way manufacturers across food and beverage operate, Zimerfeld believes the industry is only just beginning to understand its true potential.
“I would say we’re just scratching the surface.”
Mars’ vision for 2036
Looking ahead, Mars expects today’s emerging consumer trends to become even more pronounced.
Personalised nutrition, health tracking and wearable technologies are likely to give consumers greater visibility into their individual dietary needs. At the same time, demand for tailored eating experiences is expected to increase.
For one of the industry’s biggest players, the challenge will be balancing that growing desire for personalisation with consumers’ continued demand for convenience, taste and value.
“The same things will be important – taste, convenience and health. But how we solve that problem is going to be very different.”
If Mars’ vision becomes reality, the future of food may be more personalised, more fibre-rich and more convenient than ever before, while still delivering the great taste consumers expect. For a company with the scale and influence of Mars, that could have significant implications not only for its own portfolio, but for the wider food industry.