The $35 Billion Chocolate Giant Mars Was Once Notoriously Private. Here's Why the Company Is Now Speaking Out.

"For most of our history, in fact ... for 99% of our history, we've chosen not to be in the public eye and we've really wanted our brands to engage consumers. And yet times have changed," Mars chairman Stephen Badger said.

"Consumers do want to know more about not only the brands that they're buying, but the company that is behind them," Badger, who is also the great-grandson of the company's founder, Franklin Mars, said.

Badger is right. A recent study by Label Insight, which surveyed 2,000 consumers, found that 94% of respondents would be more loyal to a brand if it offered complete transparency.

Mars Chairman Explains Why the $35 Billion Chocolate Giant Will Never Go Public

With more than $35 billion in annual sales, Mars Inc — the company behind brands like Twix, M&Ms, and Skittles — is one of the largest family-owned companies in the world. And it has been around for more than 100 years.

But as the company makes changes and invests in its future, there is one thing that will continue to stay the same for the chocolate giant, Mars chairman Stephen Badger told Business Insider in a recent interview.

Staying private allows the company flexibility that many public companies could only dream of.

The Real Price of Madagascar’s Vanilla Boom

In the humid Sava region of northern Madagascar, where vanilla vines grow in the shaded canopy of the jungle, villagers guard their crop as though it were a precious metal. Well they might. Strong demand for natural vanilla, speculation, bad harvests and money laundering have driven prices as high as silver. Farmers often awake to find their vines stripped bare, carried off in the night by gangs of thieves filling orders for buyers in the far-off capital of Antananarivo, who in turn supply the markets of western Europe, the US and Asia. In some parts of Sava, say non-governmental organisations working in the region, vigilante groups have sprung up to mete out summary justice to the vanilla snatchers.

FCA US and FIAT Brand Lead the Motor City Pride Parade

Detroit will again be blanketed in colors of the rainbow this weekend (June 9-10) celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) culture at Motor City Pride, an annual two-day festival and parade that is the largest LGBTQ gathering in Michigan.

KB Home Publishes Industry-Leading 11th Annual Sustainability Report

The first major homebuilder to publish a comprehensive sustainability report in 2008, KB Home continues its commitment to documenting the Company’s industry leadership in sustainability and its strategies for future progress.

Landsec Publishes 2018 Sustainability Update

This year you’ll find updates on all of Landsec’s sustainability activities, performance and data embedded throughout its 2018 Annual Report, available at www.landsec.com/investors/reports

FCA US Mopar Parts Distribution Center Honored With Prestigious LEED Gold Environmental Award

The FCA US LLC Mopar Parts Distribution Center (PDC) in Romulus, Michigan, has been honored with the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold award for achieving excellence in green building standards. Administered by the United States Green Building Council, the PDC is the fourth FCA US facility to receive the elite designation.

Jubilant Life Sciences: Using GRI Reporting to Build a Sustainable Future for the Business

GRI Impact Stories present companies that are using the GRI reporting framework to create tangible benefits for their business and stakeholders. Jubilant Life Sciences, an Indian pharmaceutical company, states that reporting has contributed in their overall improved sustainability performance. Read more about the benefits in this interview.

World’s Longest Undersea Tunnel Stays Cool and Reduces Environmental Impact

Eurotunnel today released official data demonstrating energy savings of 33 percent after the first season of operating a new cooling system for maintaining requisite temperatures in the landmark Channel Tunnel. The operator saved 4.8 GWh and approximately €500,000 in 2017 courtesy of the new cooling system – equivalent to saving enough electricity to run 1,000 households.

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