Mars Commits $5 Million to Future-Proof Peanuts Against Climate Threats

Mars, Incorporated has announced a bold new initiative designed to protect one of the world's most important crops, the humble peanut. The Mars Protect the Peanut Plan marks the company’s first formal program to secure the global peanut supply from the mounting threats of climate change, disease, and pests.

With peanuts serving as a vital protein source for millions of families and contributing to the livelihoods of countless farmers, Mars is stepping in to help prevent the loss of nearly 30 per cent of global peanut yields. Currently, these losses amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in annual economic damage and directly threaten food security in vulnerable regions.

Backed by a $5 million, five-year investment, the plan will accelerate the development of hardier peanut varieties through cutting-edge genomic science. The aim is to develop stronger crops that can withstand increasingly challenging growing conditions, including heat stress, unpredictable rainfall, and emerging diseases.

This is not Mars’s first foray into peanut science. The new investment builds on over a decade of research funded by the company, which has already invested approximately $ 10 million in groundbreaking botanical and genetic projects. One of the most significant milestones? Helping to map the peanut genome.

As a co-founder of the Peanut Genome Initiative, Mars played a pivotal role in decoding more than 2.5 billion DNA base pairs, a number on par with the complexity of the human genome. And rather than keeping the discovery behind closed doors, Mars made the data open source, enabling researchers and farmers around the world to benefit. This leap in genetic understanding has turned peanut breeding from guesswork into something far more precise and effective.

Results from the initiative are already taking shape. At the University of Georgia’s Wild Peanut Lab, a long-time partner of Mars, researchers have developed peanut varieties that thrive in harsher environments while delivering yields up to 30 per cent higher. One standout variety, called Sempre Verde, meaning "Forever Green" in Portuguese, is now being cultivated in Brazil. Remarkably, it grows without the need for fungicides.

The Protect the Peanut Plan is also funding a range of collaborative research efforts across the globe, including:

• The development of peanut crops that can resist both drought and disease, through partnerships with the University of Georgia’s Tifton Campus, the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

• Breeding disease-resistant peanut varieties in collaboration with the USDA, HudsonAlpha, and Argentina’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology.

• Using wild peanut species native to Brazil to grow more resilient crops in partnership with Instituto Agronômico de Campinas and EMBRAPA, Brazil’s agricultural research agency.

All of this work supports Mars’s broader Sustainable in a Generation plan, a company-wide commitment to long-term environmental and social resilience.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars is a global, family-owned business with a presence in over 80 countries and a portfolio that spans pet care, food, and confectionery. With annual revenues of approximately 55 billion dollars, the company produces some of the world’s most beloved brands, including M&M’S, SNICKERS, BEN’S ORIGINAL, DOVE, PEDIGREE, and ROYAL CANIN. Its network of veterinary services and diagnostics brands — such as Banfield, BluePearl, VCA, AniCura, and Antech, is a leader in both preventive and specialist animal care.

Guided by its Five Principles, Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom, Mars empowers over 150,000 Associates to make business decisions that support a healthier, more sustainable future for people, pets, and the planet.