Kind Healthy Snacks will become the first snack company to exclusively source its almonds from bee-friendly farmland across the globe by 2025. Almonds are the lead ingredient in most of Kind's 80-plus products and the company's number one ingredient by both volume and spend.
By collaborating directly with farmers, suppliers, researchers, and other leading brands, Kind aims to significantly expand the usage of bee-friendly practices among almond farmers. As a baseline, Kind is expecting its almond suppliers to reserve 3-5 percent of their farmland for dedicated pollinator habitats to support bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
"We have been energized and inspired by the leadership demonstrated by some of our peers and partners to more actively protect pollinators. We are also incredibly proud that many of our almond suppliers have led the way, proving that incorporating more bee-friendly practices is not just good for pollinators, but also good for business," said Daniel Lubetzky, Kind’s founder and executive chairman, in a statement. "But we can do more to make these practices central to the way the almond industry does business. While we know we can't do it alone, we are proud to lend our voice and scale to call for this much needed change."
In addition, The Kind Foundation is making a $150,000 investment in the Williams Lab at the University of California, Davis, to help answer critical questions about bee health and track the efficacy of these farm-level improvements. "As an agricultural community, we need to make real change to ensure long-term bee health. Kind's commitment to bee-friendly practices in its supply chain is the sort of actionable approach that will move the dial toward more sustainable practices industry-wide," said Neal Williams, professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, in a statement. "To pair this commitment with support from The Kind Foundation for research is forward-looking and shows an understanding of how to promote further practical innovation to benefit bees."
Related: Initiative Founded by Kind Gains Momentum; Food Brands Break into New Categories.
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