HEALTH & WELLNESS
Our Wellness Ambition
MasterFoods is found in 90% of Aussie pantries and plays a big role in the nutrition of Australian families. MasterFoods, as part of Mars Food Australia, is committed to helping people lead healthier lives with two powerful ambitions: to provide 350 million healthy meals by 2020 and to inspire Australians to cook and share healthier meals together.
“We believe that ensuring Australians eat better food today, will lead to a better world tomorrow.” Hamish Thomson, General Manager Mars Food Australia
- Community
Community is very important to us. Not because we are a big trusted brand but because we want to feel connected to and involved in our local community
Our factory is based at Wyong, 95kms north of Sydney and all MasterFoods products are manufactured here. Through a government program, we mentor Wyong High School students providing career opportunities. We also provide food hampers throughout the year to those in need through local charities. And, as a way of promoting a healthy lifestyle, we sponsor our local team, the Central Coast Mariners in the Hyundai A-League.
Community is very important to us. Not because we are a big trusted brand but because we want to feel connected to and involved in our local community.
Our factory is based at Wyong, 95kms north of Sydney and all MasterFoods products are manufactured here. Through the Federal Government’s Program in Technology, MasterFoods as part of Mars Food mentor Wyong local High School students, providing career guidance and opportunities to create the next generation in our business and the food manufacturing industry. We also provide food hampers to those in need through a variety of local charities and people also donate food, blankets and basic necessities to those in need in the local community. And we sponsor our local team in the Hyundai A-League, the Central Coast Mariners, as a means of encouraging a healthy, active lifestyle. You’ll see us at every home game.
“We are excited to support a school program that enables us to play a part in developing the next generation in our business and the food manufacturing industry.” Peter Crane. Mars Food Australia Research and Development Director
“We employ locals from our surrounding area right here on the Central Coast and we support the broader community by investing and engaging a large number of community projects.”
Andrew Poll, Director, Mars Food Australia
- Less salt, less sugar
We worry about salt and sugar as much as you do. Mars Food Australia, which makes Masterfoods, has removed 282 tonnes of salt and 960 tonnes of sugar from Australian diets across all its brands between 2007-2014.
“We believe we have a responsibility to provide the information about our products and to help consumers make informed choices.” Peter Crane, Research and Development Director
13 million more veggies
Knowing that most Aussies follow our on-pack recipes to the letter, MasterFoods, as part of Mars Food Australia, has increased the quantity of veggies in our Recipe Bases serving suggestions to encourage people to eat more healthily. Last year, this resulted in Australians eating 13 million more serves of vegetables.
- Informed choices
At MasterFoods, we want to make it easy for you to enjoy our products as part of a healthy, balanced diet. So we’ve updated our labels to help you understand the nutritional contribution our products make to your meals. From early2017, you’ll start to see our products displaying a Health Star Rating on the front of the pack to help you make an even more informed choice.
The power of shared dinners
Sharing a meal with family or friends provides an opportunity to connect with the people around you and improve your overall health and wellbeing. Dinners together help make families feel like families and friends feel like friends. They make us feel happier, loved and cared for.
Studies also show that family dinners help children to improve their academic performance at school. What’s more, if you can involve them in the cooking, they learn important skills about healthy eating that they will carry with them throughout their lives.
Leading by example
MasterFoods, as part of Mars Food Australia, is committed to helping Australians lead healthier lives and naturally that starts with our own people who work for us around Australia. In 2010, Mars Food Australia introduced the ‘Believe Program’ to create a culture that supports the health and wellbeing of our people and their families.
It offer personalised health assessments, an on-site gym and a 100% subsidy for external gym memberships. To improve nutrition, we offer education, cooking classes and on-site kitchens. This has resulted in a fitter, slimmer, healthier and happier workplace.
The health & wellbeing of everyone at Mars Food Australia is vitally important to us and our wellbeing encourages and empowers our people to make small changes that have a big impact. Gary Webb, Wellness Manager, Mars Food Australia
Sustainability
Using only what's needed
“We don’t inherit the world from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”. Native American proverb
This simple truth sums up perfectly how we feel about the environment. It motivates us to continually look for new ways to reduce our footprint to help build a better world tomorrow.
Take water, one of Australia’s most precious natural resources, as an example. In 2009, we cut our water use by half when we opened a $4.2 million wastewater treatment and recycling plant at our Wyong factory. This saves enough water to fill 33 Olympic swimming pools every year and is equal to the annual water usage of 300 households!
“We are able to capture, recycle and reuse most of the water that falls on a hard surface or is used in our manufacturing plant.” Ross Mail, Senior Process Developer
Zero Landfill
At MasterFoods, we’re committed to building a better world tomorrow for all our children. So we’re always looking for ways to reduce our footprint.
In Australia, the majority of waste that isn’t recycled or reused is disposed of in the nation's landfills. In 2006, we committed to zero waste to landfill. In 2014, we achieved this target thanks to a dedicated on-site team who sort waste; recycling plastic, glass, food and pallets. What we can’t recycle is sent off to be converted into gas or electricity.
In our quest for sustainability we use the lightest materials possible. Small changes can have a surprisingly big effect. When we changed the label on MasterFoods Squeezy Tomato Sauce bottles for example, we saved almost 10 tons of landfill per year. We’ve also reduced the amount of glass in our jars, which saves 2000 tons of glass every year.
Small changes can have a big effect. Energy-efficient lighting in our factory has cut power consumption for lighting by 70%. Reducing the amount of glass in our jars saves 2000 tons of glass every year and opting for a lighter label on MasterFoods Squeezy Tomato Sauce bottles. This saves almost 10 tons of landfill per year.
“Within our factory we are relentless in driving efficiency through sustainability to ensure we leave a better world for our children.” Jason Phyland, Supply Director
Our Aussie Farmers
The secret to carrots
Our longstanding relationships with Aussie farmers we know and trust, allows us to source the best quality produce to help you create healthy, tasty meals. We’re committed to sourcing home-grown Aussie produce whenever possible.
Father and son team, Barry and Robert Hinrichsen are passionate Aussie farmers who started Kalfresh, one of Queensland’s leading carrot growers. Kalfresh has crops in 5 key growing areas so they can supply fresh, delicious carrots year round. What’s the secret to their sweet, great tasting carrots? Barry and Robert will tell you it all comes down to harvesting. Harvest too early, or too late and carrots lose their sweetness and flavour.
“Kalfresh has worked with MasterFoods for more than 20 years. Their focus is not on how cheap they can buy the vegetables, but on how good the produce will be.”
Richard Gorman, Owner and CEO Kalfresh Vegetables
“We have long-term relationships and we want to make sure that our farmers and suppliers are there for us in the future as we are for them.” Anthi Liavas, Mars Associate
A burning passion for Chillies
MasterFoods builds longstanding relationships with Aussie farmers who share our passion for fresh, quality Aussie produce, so you can create great tasting and healthy meals.
Farmer David De Paoli has an infectious love of chilies. His family business in Bundaberg, AustChilli, supplies great tasting chilies that have inspired Australia‘s love affair with this spirited spice. Grown in Queensland sunshine not glasshouses, David handpicks his chilies and purees them on-site to lock in the freshness and goodness you can taste in some of our chilli products.
“We have been working with MasterFoods for over 18 years, we really value the longstanding partnership. It’s a good feeling to know your produce are adding flavour to some of Australia’s favourite meals”. David De Paoli, Chilli Farmer
Meet our Aussie Tomato Farmer
We love Australian produce because it tastes great and, well, it’s Australian. Whenever possible we choose home grown. This is made possible through longstanding partnerships, some generations old, with Aussie farmers who put quality at the heart of everything they do.
Nick Raleigh grew up on his family’s tomato farm and is one of 12 tomato growers in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley who supply Kagome, Australia’s largest tomato processing company. Nick believes a tasty tomato is truly a wonderful thing and we couldn’t agree more. Grown in Victorian sunshine, not glasshouses so they’re packed with flavour, Nick carefully nurtures his plants from planting right through to harvest to produce ripe, juicy tomatoes. They’re a key ingredient in many of our products so our 10-year partnership with Kagome and farmers like Nick Raleigh is incredibly important to us. Every tomato we use can be traced back to the exact paddock where it was grown!
“Long-term partnerships with our farmers and suppliers are important to us, we want to work together so that we both have a long, prosperous future.” Anthi Liavas
Herbs and Spices
MasterFoods has been flavouring Australian meals since 1945, we are the experts in flavour! Over the years, we’ve grown and evolved our range of herbs and spices quickly popularising new and exciting flavours, inspiring Australia’s adventurous palette. Our spice masters go to remote regions around the world sourcing authentic herbs & spices from growers and traders we know and trust to ensure the very best quality. A quality that adds just the right taste and authentic flavour to all your meals.
“Quality is paramount to our business and for us it's really important that we have a quality supply right back to source.” Anthi Liavas