Cub Foods Brings Awareness to Pollinator Crisis

Cub Foods has joined forces with Honeybear Brands, an Elgin, Minnesota-based grower, packer and shipper of apples, and the Longmont, Colorado-based National Honey Board to educate consumers at store level about the need to protect pollinators like honeybees, which are responsible for so much of the food eaten globally, and whose populations are under significant pressure.

The partnership features in-store displays that raise awareness of the importance of honeybee pollination and help consumers understand the connection between honeybees and apples: The work that a healthy hive of honeybees does to produce 1 pound of honey also results in the pollination of 1,000 apples.

Further, a portion of fall in-store proceeds will go to create new pollinator habitats, which will be planted adjacent to apple orchards on Cub’s behalf and communicated to consumers via social messaging.

“Cub jumped at the chance to partner with Honeybear to help solve a serious issue in our agriculture community,” noted Cub CEO Mike Stigers. “Honeybear is a great company, and we love working with our partners, especially when it comes to creative solutions that support our environment and sustainability.”

“We are pleased to partner with Midwest retailer Cub, the No. 1 grocery chain in Minnesota,” said Kristi Harris, brand manager at Honeybear Brands, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wescott Agri Products. “The grocer has already pledged to sponsor the development of local acres of pollinator habitat and to showcase the displays during the month of September. Along with the National Honey Board, we will collectively increase awareness of honeybees – which are so critical to the development of our apples. In the busyness of life, we can sometimes forget how fragile the food system can be, so these displays are a great way to remind shoppers about the importance of honeybees and maybe even inspire them to plant their own pollinator gardens.” 

Owned by United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), Stillwater, Minnesota-based Cub operates 79 grocery stores in Minnesota and Illinois. Providence, Rhode Island-based UNFI delivers a wide variety of products to customer locations throughout North America, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, e-commerce retailers and foodservice customers. UNFI is No. 61 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food retailers in North America.