Mars Commits $40 Million To UC Davis
By Karla Paris
With a focus on agriculture and consumer health, the partnership plans to create a new program — the Innovation Institute for Food and Health — to address global issues in the food industry
Ralph Jerome, Vice President of Corporate Innovation at Mars, discussed the challenges faced by the food and agriculture industry with 120 economists last week in Lindau Germany. The discussion focused on translating scientific discoveries into practical applications across the entire value chain to solve society’s grand challenges. Mars is not just talking about innovation; the company is putting its money where its mouth is.
Mars and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), through its World Food Center, is agreeing to pursue the establishment of a new institute designed to deliver high-impact, Silicon Valley-type breakthroughs in food, agriculture, and health. Mars will commit a minimum of $40 million to support the new institute over 10 years, and UC Davis will provide $20 million over the same time period.
UC Davis’ take on the California drought
An independent, advisory committee chaired by Bruce German, professor of food science and technology at UC Davis, will facilitate the design and development of the Innovation Institute for Food and Health prior to its launch in January. The institute will become the innovation arm of the World Food Center at UC Davis and advance new discoveries in sustainable food, agriculture, and health, along the entire innovation process from laboratory research to commercialization.
The partnership makes sense for both parties, but this holds especially true for Mars, given the candy company’s interest and research in food science. These interests include: how to grow corn with limited pesticides, creating foods with high-vitamin content, and how the company can support its cocoa farmers further.
Check out one of Mars’ sustainable energy initiatives
Howard Schmitz, chief science officer at Mars and a senior scholar in management at UC Davis’ Graduate School of Management, says, “The global food and agriculture system has a profound impact on several key sustainability areas, from climate change to food security. To make true progress on these issues, we must partner across sectors to drive and scale transformational innovation — the Innovation Institute for Food and Health will facilitate this approach.”
Mars has collaborated with UC Davis on several, scientific, research projects related to agriculture, food, nutrition, biology, and veterinary health. Collaborations have included sequencing the cacao genome in 2010 and founding the African Orphan Crops Consortium. Both of these international programs are aimed at improving farm productivity, crop yields, and climatic adaptability of key crops.