Mars Food President Fiona Dawson and Mars family member Stephen Badger traveled to Mumbai on January 6 to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tata Trusts and meet with its Chairman, Ratan Tata. Tata Trusts is a coalition of philanthropic trusts headquartered in India, with a mission to improve the quality of life of the communities it serves.
The memorandum of understanding seeks to advance the development of agriculture, address malnutrition, and improve food safety in India.
The two entities will develop methods and tools to increase crop productivity, farm income, and sustainability of select agriculture commodities, and to collaborate on the availability of safe, affordable, and sustainable raw materials from India. Mars Food, a segment of Mars, Incorporated, also intends to conduct joint research with the Tata Trusts on nutritional guidelines that can help address anemia and other forms of malnutrition, reports Consumer Goods Technology.
The collaboration will also extend to reducing Aflatoxin contamination in India. Aflatoxin – a naturally occurring, poisonous chemical produced by certain molds – is a critical food safety issue in India. It affects raw materials such as the peanut, a key crop in India’s food supply chain. Mars has expertise in addressing Aflatoxin contamination and can draw on its Global Food Safety Center in China to conduct future research in this area.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
