Why is increased sustainability of logistics not yet a standard approach?
“The success of sustainability all depends on the enthusiasm shown by the management. At Mars, we have a clear policy regarding sustainability, and plenty of room to implement it. The development of Green Order started from the bottom up, for example. We then came into contact with InterfaceFLOR and Heinz, who were going down a similar road, via Connekt. The best thing about Connekt is that it brings together companies who would not normally connect, but who can generate strong synergy together. Connekt therefore fills an existing gap very well."

Is there a great deal of interest for Green Order?
“Client awareness grows as soon as they see that their combined ordering behaviour can have an impact on the performance of the chain. And that is what we want to see: more integration with the client's chain. I can understand the resistance however. There is a fear of removing the 'flow' from the process and leaving the stock with the client. Moreover, there is nothing more difficult than changing existing corporate processes. It is therefore important to make orders from a network. The profit lies in the bundling of goods flows."

What are the key words for a successful Green Order?
“trust, transparency and the will to work together. The current mentality is that if it's good for one party, it must cost somebody else money. That’s not true. The real trick lies in the change of perspective: learning to think in terms of networks. If you can do that successfully, it immediately improves your chain performance. The discussion of 'who is in charge of the chain?' is not relevant, the entire chain needs to cooperate."

Are you known as the green man at Mars by now?
“No, I'm still just the logistics manager. Sustainability has simply been consistently integrated in our logistics process. We certainly work at encouraging that: the Green Order earned us the 'Make the Difference' award, from 6800 entries. Make the Difference is an internal, worldwide programme by Mars, which rewards enterprise. A new Mars country shows interest each week at the moment. Who could have imagined that a year ago?"