KIND is among a handful of food companies seeking to call attention to the importance of bees to mark World Bee Day on Friday, May 20.
The maker of granola bars and other healthy snack foods is launching a virtual Bee Day Bash in collaboration with TikTok to commemorate the occasion and raise funds for Re:wild, an organization that seeks to protect and restore nature, using TikTok’s “Donate Now” button. KIND will match donations dollar for dollar, up to $20,000, through June 3.
The company will co-host a virtual party on the video-sharing platform with the bee-focused content creators @Mr.Mrs.BeeRescue. Plans call for bee-themed music and bee-inspired foods and beverages, along with, of course, lots of bees.
KIND is conducting the event as it seeks to convert its almond growers to bee-friendly growing practices. The company, which cites almonds as its number-one ingredient, said about half of the farmland that provides its almonds will be certified bee-friendly by the end of this year.
“Pollinators, like bees and butterflies, are central to the plant-based ingredients that many of KIND’s products depend on,” said Russell Stokes, chief executive officer of KIND, in a prepared release. “We are excited about the leadership we’ve seen from the almond grower community over the past few years to expedite the transition to bee-friendly practices.”
Since making its bee-friendly commitment in 2020, KIND said it has encouraged the expanded use of bee-friendly practices among its almond farmers and across the almond industry more broadly. The company will require its almond suppliers to reserve 3-5 percent of their farmland for dedicated pollinator habitats by 2025, and it has also worked with almond suppliers to eliminate the use of neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos, two pesticides that are thought to be harmful to pollinators.
California produces the vast majority of the world’s almonds, with 1.64 million acres of almond orchards, and each year, nearly 48 billion pollinators are required to pollinate the state’s crop.
KIND cited TikTok’s vibrant bee-conscious community in announcing its planned virtual party, noting that the TikTok hashtags #BeeTok and #SaveTheBees currently have more than 2 billion views of bee-related content. The event is scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. on Friday on the @KINDSnacks channel.
KIND also said it would deepen its relationship with the University of California, Davis, which is considered a leading expert on pollinators. The company said it has so far donated $350,000 to the Williams Lab to support bee health research and the monitoring of farm-level pollinator improvements and other environmental outcomes.
World Bee Day is a global event started by the United Nations in 2018 and recognized in countries around the globe to stress the importance of bees in the pollination of the world’s agricultural crops. Some few food companies have jumped on board with tie-ins that call attention to the role that bees play in food production and seek to educate consumers.
In the U.K., for example, grocery retailer Lidl is giving away free packets of flower seeds, while Lidle Ireland is hosting a bee photo contest on Facebook.
Doughnut chain Krispy Kreme is tying into World Bee Day with its first-ever honey-themed doughnut assortment, introduced earlier this month for a limited run. The Oh, Honey! Collection includes three new doughnuts: a Honey Pull-Apart Doughnut, a Honey Bee Doughnut (dipped in yellow icing with black buttercream stripes and mini-cookie wings), and Honey Cake Doughnut with honey icing and an oat crisp topping.
Customers who order the Honey Lover’s Dozen will receive bee-friendly wildflower seed paper to plant, while supplies last, The chain will also plant flower gardens at select shops to create more bee-friendly environments.
On Friday, Krispy Kreme will call attention to organizations that advocate for and practice stewardship for bees, including the Planet Bee Foundation.
“Our innovation team has been hard at work to create our first-ever honey doughnut collection. And so have honeybees!” said Dave Skena, chief marketing officer, Krispy Kreme, in a statement. “So, help the honeybees by planting the flower seeds that we give you when you buy these delicious doughnuts.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations established May 20 as World Bee Day in 2018, at the suggestion of the government of Slovenia. The date was chosen as it was the birthday of Anton Janša, a pioneer of modern apiculture. Janša came from a family of beekeepers in Slovenia, where beekeeping is an important agricultural activity with a longstanding tradition.
Related: KIND to Source Almonds From Bee-Friendly Farms; Flow Hive Reaches Bee Habitat Milestone.