The mission of Mondelez International is to “empower people to snack right.” Although it is not yet the time for my opinions, I am a bit skeptical. Some of their products are somewhat healthy, but others include candy, crackers, and cookies! Now that I got that off my chest, here is a profile of the company as objectively written as possible.
A deep dive into their website reveals many emphases that they strive for:
- High-quality ingredients
- Focus on sustainability in products and packaging
- Desire for consumers to feel good about purchases
- Products geared for those with busy lifestyles who want healthy and convenient choices
- Continual improvement
- Diversity in the workplace
It is very evident that Mondelez is laser-focused on the stakeholder group of consumers/customers, particularly those with busy lifestyles.
Let’s turn to discuss the relatively new CEO, Dirk Van de Put. He started at Mondelez as the CEO in 2017. Susie Gharib, in this interview, portrays him as an “outsider” coming into the company since he had never worked there before becoming the CEO. Van de Put explains that this “outsider” status is good and that he has an authentic, down-to-earth management style. He is vision- and improvement-oriented as well. He wants his employees to be empowered, according to the interview.
The company website agrees with this, explaining that Van de Put is behind the new initiatives mentioned above as vital emphases. He is also leading the focus on sustainability, social improvements, strategy for the future, and remaining financially successful. Without directly stating it, this is triple bottom line reporting: people, planet, and profits.
Here is a summary of key facts about Mondelez International:
Mondelez International has its headquarters in Deerfield, IL. It was surprisingly difficult to find the history of the company because it did not involve one straight path, as will be seen. According to Cleverism, in 1923, National Dairy Products was formed by Thomas H. McInnerny and Edward E. Rieck. In 1930, this company bought Kraft. There were several instances of re-naming and acquisitions. In 1969, the company became known as Kraftco Corporation; then, it was a unit of Kraft Foods.
In 2011, the company was divided in two: one part became a grocery company and the other part became a global snack company called Mondelez International.
Mondelez International describes itself by two types of brands: global and local. While considering the brand list below, consider that some brands are well-known across the world and others are particular to a country or region. So not all of them are sold in the United States. On the whole, the types of products are snacks (biscuits, chocolate, and gum and candy), cheese products, and powdered beverages. How many do you recognize on this list?
If you are a visual person and like to see the brand logos, check out this link: https://www.mondelezinternational.com/Our-Brands
The last important area to address is the company policies on ethics. They are fairly up-front-and-center in multiple tabs on their website, which shows at least a stress on intention. Their Code of Conduct for employees is translated into 32 languages. Their Compliance and Integrity Program involves training for decision-making and a commitment to having ethical concerns raised through the company HelpLine available in 90 countries.
The Corporate Responsibility Guidelines prohibit forced and child labor and support matters like: diversity and inclusion; harassment and abuse; safety and health; and environmental sustainability.
In the Supply Chain Expectations, contracts must include legal provisions on child labor and worker safety. Currently, they are working to make sure that Corporate Responsibility Expectations are in all contracts as well. Supply Chain Expectations also include third-party audits and corrective action plans.
The aspect that surprised me most about my research on Mondelez International is that the CEO has been leading many of the ethics and sustainability changes made lately. It is true that the actions and priorities of the leaders of an organization are hugely influential on that organization.
Works Cited
“About Us.” Mondelez International, https://www.mondelezinternational.com/About-Us.
“Careers at Mondelez International.” Cleverism, https://www.cleverism.com/company/mondelez-international-inc/. (note: I had some weird popups when I more recently accessed this site, so I do not recommend clicking the link.)
“Fortune 500 Mondelez International.” Fortune, https://fortune.com/company/mondelez-international/fortune500/.
“Take A Bite: A Taste Of Who We Are (2020 Fact Sheet).” Mondelez International, https://www.mondelezinternational.com/-/media/Mondelez/PDFs/mondelez_intl_fact_sheet.pdf.
The Longest Way Round 
Based on your research, it sounds like Mondelez International is presenting itself as a very ethically-facing company. Their website is full of ways they are helping the community and mandating ethical practices in their business. But are these promises being followed through on?
You touched on the contracts that Mondelez International makes with their suppliers, mandating that they follow child labor laws and worker safety, but is this being followed up on and confirmed? Based on their third-party audits and corrective action plans, it sounds like they are, which makes me feel a lot more comfortable supporting them, as it guarantees that their suppliers are just as ethical as they are.
As you mentioned, it appears the new CEO has really come in and taken control in leading the charge towards ethics and sustainability, which is a great way to adjust company culture because the CEO is going to be the biggest influence on the organization. If the company is as ethical behind closed doors as they are on their website, I would have to say they are making pretty great progression towards an ethical and sustainable future as a business.
The one thing that still stands out to me as concerning is the comments you made at the beginning. Mondelez International has their whole organization centered around the mission statement of empowering people to snack right, but the brands they create are littered with junk food, candy, and unhealthy beverages. The company is extremely consumer focused, meaning most of their customer-base probably trusts the brands and has some loyalty when choosing foods. This is concerning because these foods are not actually nutritious or healthy for the consumer. At what point does the other ethical considerations of the company get out-weighed by the fact that the organization is promoting immensely bad eating habits that have already caused a large obesity problem with the U.S. and is spreading globally?
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Victoria, thank you for bringing up this side point of unhealthy snacks. I wish I could have focused more on this in the main project, but it seemed to detract from the palm oil issue. Mondelez is somewhat mindful of things like these, because they have pledged not to advertise to children. However, their whole company mission is contributing to unhealthy eating habits and health disorders. At what point though, will consumers just seek elsewhere if your company stops producing those items?
And yes, Mondelez is in the process of putting these good policies into practice; but they are not 100% implemented until contracts can be signed with each supplier regarding worker standards. That’s as far as I understand from their press releases.
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Your analysis of the historical timeline of Mondelez Inc., incorporating both the local and the global business locations, was very beneficial and enhanced your major points of what is the past and current structure of the organization. Your visuals, interview video, and the brand logos link you implemented into your post were a great addition to your research and explanations. They elevated your main points which further supported your post.
From your research the current Chief Executive Officer, Dirk Van de Put, of Mondelez has been proactive in taking corrective actions in ethical standards of the organization and sustainability. As you mentioned in your post, they are taking specific measures to supply all employees within their organization with their Codes of Conduct, Compliance and Integrity Program, Supply Chain Expectations, and the Corporate Responsibility Guidelines to help promote a positive, safe global work environment.
From your research, the current CEO has taken action on specific issues that are in the forefront of the organization. Taking initiative on a difficult situation is the way to make a difference within the organization, especially, when it comes to correcting past mistakes and poor decisions. Your blog post left me with the question of with such positive action being taken, how has this affected the productivity and employee satisfaction? Which begs the question, will the executive leadership team keep making positive changes and taking corrective action in the future?
Another interesting point you brought up is the global aspect within the Mondelez Organization. Having a global and local brand is a very unique concept. I am curious to learn more about if the actions that they take in the local locations are the same actions that are taking place in the global locations?
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To answer your question, the local brands and the global brands can be distinct in how they are managed and the ingredients they source. For example, Tate’s Bake Shop is local in Southampton, NY. But they all have to conform to Mondelez standards. I think it is a way to cater to many different types of customer preferences.
And yes, I hope that the ethical standards and corporate responsibility standards that Mondelez has created will improve employee satisfaction as well. It makes a difference when you work for a company that you feel like is doing great things. Though an ethical work culture is more strict, people enjoy having set boundaries as to what is acceptable rather than trying to figure out what is right and wrong for themselves. And it helps when the CEO is on board as well. Employees can tell when things are in chaos at a company or whether they line up well from top to bottom. Thanks again for your comments and bringing up the perspective of employees – I hadn’t really thought about how this affects them!
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I appreciate all the visuals and especially the link to the brands’ logos — I know I didn’t recognize most of those brands until I saw them so I think adding that was a really good touch.
As to the rest of this piece, it is always interesting to see the contrast between how a company presents itself to the public and what their actual actions entail.
I am curious about what the brand’s actual goal is. Since they label themselves as ethically sourced healthy foods but sell a majority of snacks and things that you wouldn’t really label as “healthy”, what is their true driving point? Interesting that the new CEO has come in and made a stronger commitment to sustainability — shows some good progress for the brand as a whole. And coming in that strong, as Ann-Katherine would seem to agree with, definitely makes a strong impact on the company as a whole. I am also curious how the leadership will continue to act — will they continuously be making these changes or is it all a publicity stunt and will they pull back once they are deemed “okay”?
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I am cautiously optimistic that this is more than a publicity stunt. They have already entered in numerous partnerships and commitments, like The Forest Positive Coalition for Action I mention in post 5. That was just this past September. It would be a larger cost to their reputation if they backed out of all these initiatives than if they never entered them to begin with. Assuming their profits continue and do not decrease because of the pandemic, I think they will keep following the direction of sustainability.
But I agree with you that this seems at odds with marketing their products as “healthy.” Some products are, and they do not market to children; but still I think they need to take an ethical look at the preservatives and fats and sugars present in their products. Their driving point is to still be considered acceptable even with all the recent concerns with healthy eating in our culture. The designation of “healthy” is misleading and could be considered ambiguous advertising, one of the types of ethical concerns in marketing. It also could have disproportionate effects on the poor or on those who do not live close to grocery stores. Thanks for commenting on that point.
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I appreciate the structure and flow that you were able to achieve on this post. Including the visuals broke up the other content, and provided a clean, finished aesthetic.
I do have to wonder about their transparency in ethical issues, and the actions that are actually taking place verse what are reported to be done. Mondelez reports itself as an ethically sourced, health food, yet from a consumer perspective looking at their brands, health food is not what comes to mind. They do not label their packaging as healthy or ethically sourced, as many similar brands do. It seems that it might be a larger façade that is being portrayed rather than real action. Do you think there is merit in asking the company to submit triple bottom line reporting? It is a good precedent for the CEO to be leading ethical and sustainability changes within the company. It does seem that companies will often label themselves as sustainable or ethical, leaving information of such actions rather vague. I worry in these situations that green washing might be occurring, with companies wanting to appear more sustainable without putting in the time or money. Do you think there is a chance for green washing in this vague situation? I’m excited to read your next blogs posts, and see your perspective on these issues!
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That’s so important that you bring up greenwashing. All I can see is the considerable effort Mondelez is putting into their company policies and best practices, but I still wouldn’t know for sure unless some reporter dug up something hypocritical or scandalous. If they are greenwashing, then the appeals are limited mostly to their social media and website, not the labeling of their products, from what I’ve seen. Time will tell if they live up to their standards. Your suggestion of triple-bottom-line reporting is fascinating; does this mean that the People, Planet, and Profits aspects have to be on one single report? Right now, Mondelez has different types of reports (for example, a Human Rights Due Diligence report that could be considered part of the “People” aspect), but I have not seen a consolidated report. From what I understand, triple-bottom-line can be applied to accounting, so maybe Mondelez could better reflect that in their earnings report. Thanks for your thoughts!
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