Selma Roth

Saudi Gazette

 

MARS Inc. is on a mission. Not only is the American company sweetening life with the opening of a chocolate factory in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), it has also indicated it will focus on Saudization and women’s empowerment. If that is not enough, the company’s expansion in the Kingdom will happen in a sustainable manner, with special attention to the environment and preservation of natural resources.



The presence of Mars Inc. is not new in Saudi Arabia. The global chocolate giant – and since 2009 also the largest confectionery company and third largest food manufacturer worldwide – entered the Saudi market over 30 years ago with the Mars, Snickers, Bounty and Twix brands in cooperation with Sheikh Mohamed Yousuf Naghi, its exclusive distributor.  Year after year, their products gained popularity in the Kingdom, with Galaxy and M&M’s being the most popular brands. At the end of 2012, Mars Inc.’s sales here reached a record SR2 billion, and it thus comes as no surprise that the company decided to open a factory inside the country – the second in the Gulf region after Dubai.



However, the possibility to produce chocolate bars in a factory located in the Kingdom – and attract Saudi men and women to work in it – was not a given since the idea was conveyed back in 2007.



“I remember coming here in 2007 and we had a conversation about, ‘Could we ever think about having a factory in Saudi?’” said Pamela Mars-Wright, a fourth-generation member of the Mars family, who came to the Kingdom to officially inaugurate the factory earlier this month.



She and her Saudi counterparts then went on to discuss what it would take for Mars Inc. to open a factory in Saudi Arabia, keeping in mind that Mars Inc. is a family company that likes to run the business its own way and according to its five principles of quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency and freedom.



“The freedom to run our company the way that we wish is extremely important to us and still, obviously, you’ll need to be mindful of the culture and the environment and the country and the places where you work,” Mars-Wright said.



Fast-forward seven years and Mars Inc. has not only successfully opened a chocolate factory, it is actually run 60 percent by Saudi nationals, something Mars-Wright calls “an amazing achievement”.



It is proof of the country’s changing labor environment, but at the same time it is a result of Mars Inc.’s focus on human capital development and treatment of employees, or “associates”, as they call anyone working for Mars.



Since the facility began producing chocolates in September 2013, no accidents that forced employees to take time off have taken place at the premises. Each production line worker puts in 8-hour shifts at the KAEC factory, which is located 110 kilometers north of Jeddah. They are also involved in quality checks, from tasting chocolate each morning to testing the bars on “snap and shine”.



Talented associates are offered training programs, internships and partnerships with local education establishments. As one associate described it, “This factory set new standards.”



These new standards do not only concern safety and human development. When it comes to environment and natural resource preservation, the chocolate factory has raised the bar as well. The company’s efforts to recycle water and waste, use renewable energy, and build the facility as efficient as possible has resulted in the company being awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.



It is the first time LEED certification — an international set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighborhoods — has been accredited to a food manufacturer in the Kingdom.



Perhaps one of its secrets is the Mars family’s ability to run the business on their own terms while simultaneously having an eye for the Kingdom’s culture and local environment.



“If you’re going to come to a country and build a factory, how do you make sure that you are a positive influence, that you’re seen as something that is positive as opposed to just an American company coming to tell people how to do things?” is a question Mars-Wright discussed with the KAEC management when they considered the possibility of opening a factory in the Kingdom.



Concessions are part of this. Take women employment, a topic Mars-Wright is passionate about and strongly encourages.



When she first came to the Kingdom and brought up the issue, the response from her Saudi counterparts was, “It’s not going to happen”. Today, Mars Saudi Arabia is determined to hire women on the production line, although so far they have been unable to do so.



“There will be,” is Mars-Wright’s reaction. “I think you have to make concessions to different cultures. So, there are countries where we have female associates (that) can’t work midnight shifts. You know, we adjust.”



According to Sami Darouni, regional president of Mars Inc. for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, having women working on the production line has been one of the key points for Mars Saudi Arabia, and among the conditions with KAEC was “that we can ensure that women will be working on the line.”



The current absence of women, Darouni continued, is purely a result of logistical difficulties.



“Because the city has not yet fully developed, we don’t have people who can stay on the site. We have few. So we still have to commute,” he said.



Once the city expands and Mars Inc. can provide the right living conditions for its female associates, the company will begin hiring women, Darouni assured, though he was unable to give a timeline. “The commitment is to have women working on the line.”



For Mars-Wright, an important part of the entire process has been to generate positive change in the country. “Positive change everywhere in the world is a good thing. We need it [in the US] too.”



It appears Mars Saudi Arabia is well on its way to be part of the country’s transformation into a well-formed society.



Mars-Wright is confident: “I think the future is what we want it to be. So now it becomes a matter of filling the factory up to the point of where we need to make more investments in the factory. Who knows, perhaps at some point we’ll be making gum in the Kingdom as well. There’s always possibilities.”