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SuperValu
SUPERVALU
Save the Bees
SuperValu’s Save the Bees campaign partnered with the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan to create a schools’ programme to raise awareness of the importance of pollination and support local biodiversity
With 30 per cent of Irish bees under threat of extinction SuperValu’s Save the Bees campaign in association with SuperValu TidyTowns partnered with the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan to create a schools’ programme to raise awareness of the importance of pollination and support local biodiversity in Irish communities.
“While bees are busy collecting nectar and pollen from flowers to feed themselves and their families, they disperse pollen that enables plants to produce fruits and seeds. These are essential to maintain plant communities and beautiful landscapes, as well as supporting other wildlife, including birds, mammals and other insects. In addition, fruits and seeds contribute to a huge amount of the world’s food supply, with more than 75 per cent of leading food crops benefitting from animal pollination. We can help reverse the decline in bees by doing something as simple as returning the favour and making sure their habitats are rich with flowers to forage on and free of harmful threats, which is why this SuperValu Save the Bees campaign is so important,” says Professor Jane Stout, Deputy Chair of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, who worked with SuperValu on the campaign.
COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN “As a community retailer, sustainability is very much part of the SuperValu DNA. It has been a core belief within SuperValu since its inception over 40 years ago and is at the heart of our work. While many of us want to do more to play our part when it comes to biodiversity and sustainability, often we are at a loss where to start. Indeed, research shows that if we engage young people in primary school, we can empower them to take informed conservation action which will stay with them for life and as such have a lasting impact for generations,” says Maighread Cremin, Community & Sponsorship Manager, Musgrave.
During the campaign, every single primary school in Ireland received a Save the Bees Pollinator Pack. This pack was co-created with the AllIreland Pollinator Plan and contained guidebooks, posters, bookmarks, and pollinator friendly seeds to allow every school to create their own pollinator friendly patch.
POLLINATOR FRIENDLY SuperValu wants to help local communities, schools and families lead the way in creating an Ireland where pollinators thrive. “At
SUPERVALU
SuperValu, we are huge supporters of Irish producers and suppliers. We source as much as possible from Irish suppliers, and we want to keep buying and supporting Irish and local, which is why we are so committed to protecting pollinators,” explains, Ian Allen, Managing Director, SuperValu. “There are simple steps we can all take to make Ireland a habitable ecosystem for bees and our SuperValu Save The Bees packs will provide support awareness, education and action for children across the country.”
The campaign with was supported by SuperValu TidyTowns launched in March by Minister Heather Humphries and Mr Ian Allen. It not only helped schools understand pollinators but also helped them make Ireland more pollinator friendly and introduced them to the SuperValu TidyTowns competition.
To promote awareness and action, families could collect a Save the Bees card in SuperValu, with every spend over €30. They were then added to each school’s Save the Bees poster, which could then be entered into a draw to win a share of €50,000 for the school.
“As part of the entry form, we asked them what they would like to spend the money on and there was a lot of common themes such as sensory gardens, planting of trees, and many were looking to set up gardens to grow their own veg and learn more about the food chain,” notes Cremin.
ENGAGEMENT To engage a younger audience SuperValu worked with Irish infl uencer Miriam Mullins to create a Save the Bees TikTok dance which encouraged people to do the Save The Bees dance on their own channels and was supported by a number of Irish TikTokers. The Save The Bees ad supported the campaign across social, TV, radio and cinema.
“It goes without saying that our Save the Bees campaign would not be possible without the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and the work of Prof Jane Stout and Dr Una Fitzpatrick. Both doing great work with the researchers with the National Biodiversity Data Centre,” Cremin adds. The work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre and the other research centres play a key role in Ireland’s response to climate change and the changing face of biodiversity.
With the launch of the event covered by over 30 news outlets—including Irish Independent, Irish Times and Agriland—and the social reach from the media drop and social infl uencer collaborations reaching over 750,000, the campaign brought the issue to the forefront. The Save the Bees TikTok campaign had a reach of over 1 million and every school in Ireland received the pollinator packs. The team working on the All-Ireland Pollinator plan are constantly measuring bee population in Ireland and will be able to report any further change in bee population that may have occurred as a result of the work of this campaign. There has also been an uptake in entries to the schools category of the Tidy Towns competition since the campaign.
“The objective of the campaign was to create a lasting impact and while the launch of the campaign received a large amount of coverage the overall objective of educating children in schools around Ireland and changing the way Irish people think about pollinators will be the greater measure of success,” Cremin concludes.
