Te Awamutu farmer Andrew Flay hosted Farm Source and Mars on-farm to chat about sustainability and the Co-op’s new customer incentives.
These include on-farm solutions for those who achieve the Co-operative Difference, and an Emissions Incentive payment of between 10-25 cents per kgMS for those with the lowest emissions in the Co-op.
Mars is one of our largest customers, with farmers’ milk going into well-known products like Mars bars, M&Ms, and Snickers. One 1.2 tonne crate of Anhydrous Milk Fat from the Co-op’s Edendale site in the South Island goes into around one million Mars bars.
Earlier this year, Mars’ Global Vice President of Sustainability and Chief Climate Officer, Kevin Rabinovitch, and Farm Source Group Director Anne Douglas visited Waikato and met Te Awamutu farmer Andrew Flay on his fourth-generation farm to talk about the new incentives, which are designed to support farmers to reduce emissions.
Talking about what sustainability means to him, Andrew says the farm’s family history informs how he thinks about the future.
“I was born on the farm, as was my dad. My son and grandson were born in the same house, so we’ve got a little bit of history here. Because of that, sustainability is at the forefront of our minds. To hear that we’re all in this together, finding a clearer path forward, that’s great,” he says.
“I think the incentive approach will certainly allow more farmers to buy in. We’re not told which direction we need to go in with our business, and across the board with different systems, we still have choices.”
Mars relates to thinking in generations, says Kevin.
“We value the work that can be done to solve today’s challenges but setting things up for the future too. We appreciate that long-term perspective and thinking about the future of farming and the future of our business and supply chain. Without agriculture, without farmers, we don’t have a business. We recognise and value that. It’s something that we want to invest in today and in the future.”
The new incentives are an evolution of Mars’ partnership with Fonterra. In 2024, Co-op farmers were invited to take part in the Mars Tools and Services pilot, which looked at what support could help farmers reduce emissions and improve efficiencies. It has also previously supported the Greener Choices programme, which made it easier for Fonterra farmers to identify and buy products at Farm Source stores that could help them make sustainability improvements on-farm.
Anne says partnerships with customers like Mars help keep the Co-op strong.
“This partnership is special. The genuine interest, passion, and value that Mars places on the hard work farmers are doing every day to produce this high-quality, nutritious, dairy product is second to none.”