[Pollinator] The Haagen-Dazs(R) Brand Announces Partnership With The Xerces Society For Invertebrate Conservation In New Effort To Help Bees

Tue Apr 21 06:15:14 PDT 2015

FROM: PR Newswire

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-haagen-dazs-brand-announces-partnership-with-the-xerces-society-for-invertebrate-conservation-in-new-effort-to-help-bees-300068854.html

*The Haagen-Dazs® Brand Announces Partnership With The Xerces Society For
Invertebrate Conservation In New Effort To Help Bees*

[image: The Haagen-Dazs brand is stepping up its ongoing commitment to the
Haagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees(TM) program with a new sustainable
agricultural program for its farmer suppliers in partnership with the
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Over the course of 2015 and
2016, Xerces will work with Haagen-Dazs berry and nut farmers to develop
custom farm conservation plans for each farm to include assessments of the
existing pollinator habitat and opportunities for improvement...]

OAKLAND, Calif., April 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The *Häagen-Dazs* brand is
stepping up its ongoing commitment to the *Häagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees™*
program with a new sustainable agricultural program for its farmer
suppliers in partnership with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation. For over 40 years, the non-profit Xerces Society has worked
to protect insects through the conservation of invertebrates and their
habitat, and in the last 20 years has built an internationally respected
pollinator conservation program. Xerces also has the largest pollinator
conservation team in the world.

"The* Häagen*-*Dazs* brand is recognized worldwide for its commitment to
sourcing the best ingredients and crafting them into the finest ice cream
available. This partnership will enable the *Häagen-Dazs* brand to
implement a sustainable agricultural program focused on improving the
health of the bee populations near the farms where our ingredients grow,"
says Alex Placzek, Director of the Häagen-Dazs brand.  "Our farmer partners
are equally interested in doing their part by installing and maintaining
pollinator habitat that will have a direct impact on honey bee health and
native pollinator populations."

Over the course of 2015 and 2016, the Xerces staff will work with
*Häagen-Dazs* berry and nut farmers to develop custom farm conservation
plans for each farm to include assessments of the existing pollinator
habitat and opportunities for improvement; implementation plans for
installing wildflower meadows, cover crops and/or hedgerows; and a
pesticide risk assessment and strategies for mitigating pesticide impacts.

"We are starting with the crops where we source the most volume but will
continue to build out the program after this initial start to ensure the
farms that grow our ingredients are safer for bees and other pollinators,"
adds Placzek.  "It's simply the right thing to do to ensure that bees can
continue to thrive and enrich the planet."

"Partnering with *Häagen-Dazs'* supplier-farms to foster pollinator
conservation has the potential to create a significant amount of habitat
for bees and reduce pesticide impacts," says Scott Hoffman Black, Executive
Director of the Xerces Society. "We are excited by the opportunity offered
to us by *Häagen-Dazs* and value the leadership they are demonstrating in
sustainable management of farms."

*Background*:  In 2007, beekeepers in the U.S. began reporting that 25
percent of the honey bee population across the country had mysteriously
died; a staggering phenomenon scientists named Colony Collapse Disorder, or
CCD. Bees are responsible for pollinating more than 100 different crops, $15
billion worth annually in the U.S., including one third of all the natural
foods we eat.  But honey bees were dying at an alarming rate and key
scientists were stumped as to the cause.

For *Häagen-Dazs* ice cream, the reality of this threat spurred the
super-premium ice cream maker to launch its national *Häagen-Dazs loves
Honey Bees* campaign in 2008 to help protect the petite pollinators. The
brand uses only the finest ingredients in its recipes, such as crunchy nuts
and fresh fruits and berries, all pollinated by the bees.  In fact, bees
are the little champions behind more than 40 percent of the *Häagen-Dazs*
brand's ice cream flavors.

Since 2008, the *Häagen-Dazs* brand has donated more than $1,000,000 to
fund sustainable pollination and CCD research at Pennsylvania State
University and University of California, Davis.

For full details on how the Haagen-Dazs brand is helping bees and how you
can take part, please visit www.Haagendazs.us <http://www.haagendazs.us/>
You may also visit www.facebook.com/HaagenDazsUS,
www.twitter.com/HaagenDazs_US <https://twitter.com/HaagenDazs_US>,
www.pinterest.com/haagendazs or watch us on YouTube at
www.youtube.com/HaagenDazsUS

*About Häagen-Dazs*
Crafted in 1960 by Reuben Mattus in his family's dairy, *Häagen-Dazs* ice
cream is the original super premium ice cream. True to tradition, we are
committed to using only the purest ingredients in crafting the world's
finest ice cream. Truly *made like no other®*, today *Häagen-Dazs* ice
cream offers a full range of products from ice cream and gelato to sorbet,
frozen yogurt and frozen snacks in more than 65 flavors. *Häagen-Dazs*
products are available around the globe for ice cream lovers to enjoy. For
more information, please visit www.haagendazs.com.

*About The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation *Protecting the
Life that Sustains Us
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is a nonprofit
organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of
invertebrates and their habitat. Established in 1971, the Society is at the
forefront of invertebrate protection, harnessing the knowledge of
scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation
programs worldwide. Over the last two decades, the Society has built an
internationally respected pollinator conservation program that has worked
with farmers on three continents. To learn more about the Society's work,
please visit www.xerces.org.
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