Viersen, July 5, 2010 – With the help of its logistics partner Rigterink, Mars Germany is now deploying hybrid trucks to transport its products. This adds yet another new element to the company’s sustainability strategy in the area of green logistics.

Mars and its logistics partners rely on environmentally friendly logistics solutions: in the greater Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Berlin areas, food transports have been underway since July 2011 in trucks with hybrid drives. To date, manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has delivered only 50 of these vehicles Europe-wide – and three of them now are now on the road for Mars. The use of this green drivetrain technology pays off especially in city traffic, where a hybrid truck consumes an average of 10 to 15 percent less fuel and emits a correspondingly lower level of CO₂. What’s more, hybrid technology makes for a quieter city: at red lights and in stop-and-go traffic, hybrid motors quickly react by switching off, thus producing much less noise.

Taking responsibility for the future

The use of hybrid trucks is part of the green logistics strategy Mars Germany will be pursuing consistently from now on, relying on ecofriendly technologies to live up to its responsibilities as one of the world’s largest producers of consumer goods. Today, 90 percent of the trucks in the company’s German fleet are already equipped with ecofriendly Euro 5 motors, which nationwide account only for approximately 60 percent of delivery fleets.
“Logistics is an area where focusing on sustainability really pays off. By deploying green technologies and continuing to develop them further, we not only save costs, but also do our part for the environment and therefore for future generations,” explains Romald Heuvelmans, Customer Logistics Director at Mars Germany. Even if today a hybrid vehicle does not yet pay for itself 100 percent, it is all the more worthwhile in terms of ecology and the learning potential it offers.

Cooperation instead of competition

With its fleet of hybrid trucks, Mars Germany is continuing to pursue its AGENDA 2017. This initiative sparked a strategic realignment of the company’s logistics systems. The core element is the cooperation between various industry manufacturers, retailers and logistics services providers whose isolated logistics chains, operated in parallel, are now to be linked by means of a cooperation platform. In keeping with the slogan “Competition on the shelf, not the truck,” Mars Germany is driving pioneering changes in the entire industry with this cooperative venture.

Interested media representatives are invited to contact our press department to make an appointment for viewing a hybrid truck.

Print-ready press photos of the hybrid truck can be found at http://www.mars/- presse.de/bilddatenbank.html.

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Mars Deutschland is a subsidiary of the US family-owned business known as Mars Incorporated, one of the leading global manufacturers of branded products. In the six business segments of Chocolate, Petcare, Food, Drinks, Chewing Gum and Plantcare, Mars in Germany had annual sales of about 1.7 billion euros in 2010 and currently employs around 2,200 associates. Some of the most well-known brands in Petcare are WHISKAS®, PEDIGREE®, CHAPPI®, KITEKAT®, CESAR®, SHEBA®, FROLIC® and TRILL®. The Chocolate segment is best known for brands such as MARS®, SNICKERS®, BALISTO®, M&M'S®, TWIX®, CELEBRATIONS®, BOUNTY®, MILKY WAY® and AMICELLI®. The flagship brands of our Human Food business are UNCLE BEN'S® and EBLY®. The Chewing Gum segment is represented by well-known brands such as WRIGLEY'S EXTRA®, ORBIT® and AIRWAVES®. Further information is available at http://www.mars.de/. For press information and photos, also see http://www.mars-presse.de/.

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