The Grocer – 17 August 2019

bee conservation

26 | The Grocer | 17 August 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

Bee health has been part and parcel of many fmcg
brands’ sustainability plans for years , with initiatives
such as the planting of wild ower meadows and pro-
grammes to reduce pesticide use.

Bee-friendly retailers

Asda has been working with seed company Syngenta
to plant biodiversity plots on unused headlands at
the supermarket’s potato growers’ farms. “The Green
Headland Mix is sown in areas that typically would
be le uncropped and bare, vulnerable to soil ero-
sion,” says Asda media relations manager Tom Henson.
“Instead, it produces wild owers that provide food and
habitation for pollinators and other insects.”
The results so far are encouraging, adds Henson.
“Over three years, we’ve counted 90,000 insects at
our 10 farms, including a number of rare and endan-
gered species, including the squat furrow bee – clas-
si ed as rare – and the ashy furrow bee, classi ed as
endangered. We’ve also seen that our farmers are able
to reduce the amount of plant protection products such
as pesticides they use, because more insects are around
to eat pests like aphids, as well as reduce the amount
of fertiliser required.”
Morrisons is also doing its part. The retailer says its
‘Project Pollinator’ scheme to set aside land for bees
has seen numbers increase by up to 55% year on year.
The retailer introduced the scheme following growing
concerns about the decline in wild bees throughout
the UK, echoed in a recent UN report on potential bee
mass extinction.
Initially launched with Morrisons’ free-range
egg farmers, the scheme has so far seen 57 acres of
bee-friendly pollen and nectar-rich habitat planted
across the UK. Eighty per cent of the farms supplying
directly into Morrisons Chippendale egg packing site

in Yorkshire have now subscribed to the project, and

the Morrisons agriculture team has worked with the

Bumblebee Conservation Trust to formulate a unique

bee-friendly  ower mixture to boost bee numbers.

It’s not just retailers launching bee-friendly schemes;

suppliers of all sizes are also getting on board. A group

of farmers from the Arla Foods dairy co-operative

launched a trial initiative in June to see whether their

e orts for environmentally friendly dairy farming

could be broadened to help increase wild bee popu-

lations, given the crucial role they play in supporting

our ecosystems.

Meanwhile, London meadery Gosnells will be help-

ing to choreograph a high-level session on bees next

year – not just honey bees, but wild bees as well.

The idea is to look at the importance of bees in agri-

culture and food supply, bees’ potential for helping

mental health, and the massive potential in cities for

more bee-friendly plants and trees on city roo ops,

windowsills and gardens.

The event will be aimed at farmers, fruit growers,

foresters, Defra, retailers and foodservice companies.

Gosnells is also looking to bring on board a “top uni-

versity”, to bring together speakers on a “thought-pro-

voking smorgasbord of subjects”.

Training beekeepers

Others are approaching the issue from an education

angle. If honey bee populations are to thrive long-term,

it’s vital the UK has enough professionally trained

beekeepers. That’s why Eat Natural has an ongoing

campaign called ‘Pollenation’, which  rst launched

in 2016. As part of the initiative, the fruit and nut bar

brand recruits and trains beekeepers to look a er its

hives. It started with 25 beekeepers and now has more

than 100. “This project is close to our heart because the

fact is, without the honey bee there

wouldn’t be any delicious ingredi-

ents for our bars and breakfasts,”

says a spokeswoman.

Some brands have even launched

speci c bee-friendly products.

Last month, Papa John’s UK cre-

ated a buzz when it launched a nov-

elty “pizza for bees” – the ‘Beezza’.

The one-inch pizza is covered in

 owers and was launched in cel-

ebration of its latest NPD – the Bee

Sting Pizza.

“Bees are an integral part of our

ecosystem and they need to be

protected,” says Giles Codd, UK

marketing director. “The bee is a

creature that the pizza world owes

everything to, as the most e ective

pollinator of tomatoes. This tiny

 ying insect allows us to keep up

with the global demand for tomato-

based products such as our pizza

sauce.”

£690m

worth of crops that

insects, including bees,

pollinate every year

33%

proportion of the UK’s

bee population that

has disappeared over

the past decade

97%

amount of UK wild ower

meadow that has been

lost since the 1930s

in Yorkshire have now subscribed to the project, and

Eat Natural has recruited

100 beekeepers and built

each one a hive out of

upcycled pallets, as part of

its ‘Pollenation’ campaign