The folks at Häagen-Dazs ice cream have created a campaign and a new flavor that brings attention to the plight of America’s honey bees. Do you know that honey bees are responsible for one of every three bites the average American eats? The campaign called Häagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees™ will raise money for sustainable pollination and CCD research at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California Davis.
Honey bees are responsible for pollinating more than 100 different crops, $15 billion worth annually in the U.S., and are a key factor in the agricultural industry’s ability to provide food products to the rest of the world. But honey bees are dying at an alarming rate. Over the last several winters, more than 25 percent of the honey bee population in the United States has vanished, many under mysterious circumstances. Early reports from beekeepers show this phenomenon is continuing in 2008.
For Häagen-Dazs ice cream, the reality of this threat has spurred the superpremium ice cream maker to launch a national campaign to protect these tiny unsung heroes. Everything from poor nutrition to invasive mites to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) – a phenomenon where bees from a colony abruptly desert the hive and die – is affecting the bees. This disappearance has scientists stumped and has the potential to affect many of our favorite nuts, fruits and berries – key ingredients in some of the most popular Häagen-Dazs flavors. In fact, more than 40 percent of Häagen-Dazs all-natural ice cream flavors include ingredients dependent on honey bees for pollination.
The Häagen-Dazs brand is launching a new honey bee-dedicated flavor in February 2008 – Vanilla Honey Bee. The brand is also tagging all of its honey bee-dependent flavors – from Häagen-Dazs Wild Berry frozen yogurt to Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan ice cream – with a HD loves HB™ icon. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the new flavor and all HD loves HB tagged flavors will be used to fund the $250,000 donation to UC Davis and Penn State.
“Häagen-Dazs ice cream is made from the finest all-natural ingredients, and the plight of the honey bee could mean many of the ingredients used in our top flavors, like Vanilla Swiss Almond and Strawberry, would be difficult to source,” said Häagen-Dazs brand manager Josh Gellert.