Mars Drinks

Created in 1955, Mars Drinks is the drinks division of Mars Inc, a global company with a $26 billion turnover in food, drinks, confectionery, and petfood. Mars Inc aims to be the global leader in all of its activities. In keeping with this philosophy, Mars Drinks is a market leader in drinks vending systems in its markets, namely UK, France, Germany, USA and Japan. A $355 million business, Mars Drinks produces over one billion drinks per year with its two brands: FLAVIA® single portion fresh beverages; and KLIX®, in-cup beverages

FLAVIA®

With over 25 years experience and national coverage, FLAVIA® is the leading single-cup coffee machine for the UKs workplaces. FLAVIA® delivers the widest variety of the freshest, finest coffee, tea and hot chocolate available, selected from around the world including certified sustainable sources. Reliability, ease of use and smart technology are all dedicated to making FLAVIA® the hassle-free way to deliver quality refreshments in the UK's workplaces.

KLIX®

Mars Drinks recycle 95% of our machines and we are working to find solutions for the remaining 5%. Mars Drinks brand KLIX® also partner with Save a Cup a not-for-profit company who provide an environmentally sound disposal route for our customers used hard wall polystyrene vending drinks cups and have had more than a billion cups collected so far for recycling.

Machine facts : The KLIX® Outlook machine is 12.5% more energy efficient for hot drinks and 51% more energy efficient in stand-by mode than the average for two leading floor standing drinks vending machines tested.

We are committed to being a sustainable supplier to our customers.

Corporate Social Responsibility

At Mars Drinks, we take sustainability very seriously. Last Year we launched our sustainability program, Thirsty for Change, which outlines a commitment to make our operations more sustainable and help our customers make their workplace more sustainable.  To support this program we have recently launched three Rainforest Alliance FLAVIA® coffees. We also have our own scheme, called Brighter Tomorrow at Origin, which donates funds to help with social and quality programs in a cooperative in Kenya. Please visit www.marsdrinks.com and www.brightertommorow.net for more information.

Field Sales

As a member of a Regional Sales Team, each Business Development Manager (BDM) grows and retains a substantial existing customer base in a B2B marketplace through the correct combination of our world class branded drinks and market leading equipment, enabling us to exceed customer expectations. In addition, gaining new business is crucial, responding to the mix of generated leads either through referrals or by our internal lead generation program. Each BDM is responsible for a geographic region, understanding the balance required in consistently delivering profitable growth through our branded hot and cold drinks.

The four regions within the UK field Sales Team are the Northern Region (Scotland - Leeds); Southern Region (Home Counties & Central London); Eastern Region (Humberside - Northampton); and Western Region (Wales - Devon). Each region consists of a number of territories driven by postcodes and active customers within each area.

National Accounts & FMS

The National Accounts team is a well- established route to market within the direct sales channel for Mars Drinks.  However, recently we have benefited for more and more of our larger, national customers positively looking to build a direct relationship with credible, ethical suppliers, such as Mars Drinks.  As a result we are establishing a much broader range of relationships with a wide variety of contacts within our customers, ranging from the CEO of the larger customers, across into their HR teams and more recently within the Sustainability or CSR teams.  This has allowed the role and skills of the National Account Managers to be developed to now have a much broader understanding of business and the part service and drinks provision play within the UK workplaces. 

The skill set of the National Accounts team will always be developing as to keep pace with the marketplace.  However, a passion for building long term, mutual relationships with our customers has to remain at the heart of everything achieved within National Accounts. 

Distributor Channel

FLAVIA® is a winning proposition for the UK workplace: we have an innovative new machine, the largest range of hot drinks to meet consumer needs, an industry leading sustainability programme, and professional sales tools and training packages.  At Mars Drinks we have ambitious plans in place for growth in sales of FLAVIA® drinks and machines.  In 2007 we achieved 20% growth versus 2006 through our network of UK FLAVIA® Distributors and we are expanding the Distributor Team to help us sustain that growth.  Each Distributor Account Manager (DAM), working as part of a small, highly focused and driven team, would be responsible for driving mutually beneficial growth with a portfolio of our UK FLAVIA® distributors.

Food Service

The Food Service team at Mars Drinks is a small, energetic team managing and developing our business with ‘national’ and ‘independent’ contract caterers. This market sector makes up about a third of our UK volume and is enjoying strong growth especially in the Independent sector. Our field based Food Service Sector Managers (FSSMs) are tasked with the development of effective business relationships with all key decision makers and influencers within catering companies. These contacts range from area managers to company MDs. The work is challenging and varied and as such is rewarding and highly visible within the organisation. The nature of the role requires not only highly professional major account management skills but also exceptional networking ability. This ability is also key with ‘internal’ clients as the channel works very closely with our National Accounts and Field Sales teams, as well as marketing and finance departments.

Contact Centre

The Customer Service Contact Centre at Mars Drinks is not what you would expect from a traditional Call Centre. When you ring us you are not greeted with a list of push button options - you are greeted by a Customer Service Advisor asking how they can help you. When you ask one of our Advisors for help they will invariably be able to sort out your request there and then, and if they can't they will take ownership of your query, find a resolution and ensure you are contacted back accordingly. The reason for this is that we firmly believe that our Customers should be at the Heart of Our Business. We therefore look to measure our success against ensuring we provide a great service to our Customers. We focus on adding Value to their transactions - this could be, for example, by helping them clear a Technical Fault with their machine over the phone, helping them manage their Drinks Menu choices, or resolving any other issues they are experiencing. We are grouped into Regional Teams and work closely with our Business Development Managers and Customer Service Technicians to ensure we understand how our Business Region is performing and to understand the needs of our Customers at a Local Level. It's a lively, customer driven environment that offers both a rewarding role and great insight into our Business for people looking to progress and forge a career within the Mars Group.

Specialist Sales Team

10 Million pounds, 11,000 customers and 9 employees - welcome to the Specialist Sales Team. We nurture, retain and grow our customer base from our head office via the telephone. Thanks to us, our customers renew their contracts with Mars Drinks time and time again - but why? Because we offer great after sales care, great products and great value for money. Keeping our customers happy and drinking our drinks longer is our top priority, having happy customers gives us referrals and testimonies, leading to more new customers. Due to the competitive nature of our segment delivering your targets for the team means that you're one step ahead on the career ladder if you're looking to progress to a successful sales career.