Manuka Honey and the Plight of the Bees with Corey Blick, SVP, GM Comvita USA with Matt Kovacs, President Blaze PR E150

Manuka honey is a premium, functional honey from New Zealand, and not the ordinary honey in a plastic bear!  Did you know bees are nearly extinct in 8 US states? Crazy but true. Learn about the world's most unique honey and how it is sold and marketed as a "challenger" brand. 

Connect with Corey Blick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-blick-781a9b4/

Connect with Matt Kovacs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjkovacs/

https://www.comvita.com/

http://www.blazepr.com/

• Comvita Origin story - Beekeeping since 1974
• What is Manuka Honey?
• What are the benefits?
• Industry trends
• Lab Certified
• How does one market ultra-premium food? 
• Line extensions?
• 3 tough questions 
• The plight of the bees

Bee Resources:

Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Oregon each have zero or close to zero American bumblebees left, according to a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and Bombus Pollinators Association of Law Students. 

Over the last two decades, the American bumblebee population has decreased by 89% across the U.S. New York had a decline of 99% and they disappeared from the northern part of Illinois that has seen a 74% decrease in population since 2004, the petition said. Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/10/14/american-bumble-bees-disappeared-8-states-face-extinction/8448637002/

There are 4,000 bee species in North America: https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-species-native-bees-are-united-states

Beekeepers across the United States lost 45.5% of their managed honey bee colonies from April 2020 to April 2021, according to preliminary results of the 15th annual nationwide survey conducted by the nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership, or BIP. These losses mark the second-highest loss rate the survey has recorded since it began in 2006 (6.1 percentage points higher than the average annual loss rate of 39.4%). The survey results highlight the continuing high rates of honey bee colony turnover. The high loss rate was driven by both elevated summer and winter losses this year, with no clear progression toward improvement for beekeepers and their colonies. Source: https://ocm.auburn.edu/newsroom/news_articles/2021/06/241121-honey-bee-annual-loss-survey-results.php

• https://pollinator.org/learning-center/bee-issues?gclid=CjwKCAiA9qKbBhAzEiwAS4yeDWCNdxzMM5I3vjGIB08aTe6f-Jug6JyhVwm_FOeQwZL1ESuNV2R_-BoCnT8QAvD_BwE
• https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-bees/
• https://www.earthday.org/fact-sheet-bees/

About your Host Tony Moore and the Winning at Work podcast:

Connect with me on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/differentbetterspecialbrands/

Are you looking for a fun and light-hearted podcast to stay current on the trends shaping the $1.6 trillion food and beverage industry? My totally awesome brands featured here take us deep into the world of sustainability, plant-based, food tech, CBD, and good for you. Want to learn how to grow a brand? Scale a brand? I've got you covered. 

Join me on my mission to discover what makes these companies different, better, and special.

Episode 150 is sponsored by: Timpl Search - National Food and Beverage headhunters for sales, marketing, innovation, and operations. https://www.timplsearch.com/

Contact: Tony Moore. 404-904-9235. Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/differentbetterspecialbrands/

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