Inclusive Business Analysis: Mars Wrigley, Mint Value Chain in India

Inclusive Business Analysis: Mars Wrigley, Mint Value Chain in India

Mars Wrigley (Mars) is the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolate, chewing gum, mints, and fruity confections. With the launch of its global initiative, Auspicious Mint (known as Shubh Mint in India) Mars works to advance the mint value chain and invests in mint farmers and their communities. The Shubh Mint program focuses on improving incomes for over 20,000 mint farmers, reducing their water footprint, and creating opportunities for women.

Tanager, the implementing partner of the Shubh Mint program, is an international non-profit that brings people together to co-create economic and social opportunities that change lives.

A recent inclusive business analysis sought to:

1. Establish the business case for Mars and recommend how to structure mint oil procurement from smallholder farmers through farmer producer companies (FPCs) in a commercially viable way.
2. Explore and evaluate solutions that improve the incomes of mint farming households through better service delivery and market access to mint and diversified crops, thus reducing the living income gap.
   
3. Assess the inclusion of women in the supply chain and increase their social and financial capital working through women self-help groups (SHGs).

Key findings and recommendations from the analysis include:

1. Procurement

1. Sustainable mint can be sourced much more efficiently. By increasing sourcing from the existing program, Mars could gain more efficiency. Sustainable mint premiums may be further reduced by optimising program spending due to maturity of actors (FPCs and SHGs) and cost-sharing with other partners.
2. More proactive demand planning from Mars can help secure a timely supply and support planning at the FPC level.
   
3. Developing mature FPCs into market facing companies (MFC) may help ensure a long-term sustainable supply of natural mint oil.
   
4. A landscape approach will enable an MFC to generate additional commission income from aggregation of potato and mustard for off-take partners. Moreover, MFC staff and assets (office, storage space etc.) will be efficiently utilised for other crops throughout the year.
   

2. Living Income

1. Land size is a key limiting factor.  Identified improvements are likely to close the living income gap to between 60% and 98%.  
2. Interventions in main diversified crops of mint farmers such as potato, mustard, and rice towards to improve yield and market access by partnering with respective value chain partners is a main lever to reduce the living income gap.  
   
3. Promoting income generating activities among women members of SHGs is another key lever towards reducing living income gap.
   

3. Further inclusion of women in the value chain

1. Continue to strengthen operations of women-only FPCs towards maturity while encouraging women membership and leadership in other FPCs.
2. Scaling up SHGs is advised to support a larger share of households through income generating activities.
   
3. SHG maturity can be accelerated through targeted capacity building in identified areas/activities. Data-driven segmentation is needed to guide further support needs and service provision.