Not long ago, KIND has been acquired by Mars. How did that development come to be and what is your current business footprint in terms of commercial products?
R.S.: Seeing the phenomenal growth that took place in the healthy snacking space over the last 15 years, Mars got interested in a long-term investment in this business, and, consequently, saw in KIND a potential leader of this next generation of snack brands. Most consumers in North America are well accustomed to the iconic fruit & nut bars in the clear wrapper that our founder Daniel Lubetzky created back in 2004. As a result, these products make for two thirds of our business in the U.S., followed by whole grain snack bars, breakfast granola (which is more developed in European markets) and non-dairy almond-based frozen treats, sold under the brand KIND Frozen. Market wise, besides North America, we are also present in the UK, France, Scandinavia, and the Middle East.
KIND has pledged to exclusively source their almonds from bee friendly farms by 2025, and, respectively, from regenerative farms by 2030. What were the reasons behind taking these stances?
E.J.:
We are very grateful that we are almost halfway through the commitment that we made in 2020 to source all our almonds from bee friendly farms, even more so, since we also managed to push the entire industry on this goal.
These pollinator populations, that help turn the bloom into an almond, are under threat both from climate change and pesticide use. In order to be considered bee friendly, our suppliers need to become verified through a third party and they have to reserve 3% to 5% of their farm land for pollinator habitat (e.g., by planting hedges). Furthermore, they need to follow an integrated pest management approach by using holistic techniques that include, but are not limited to, spraying pesticides at certain times of the day when pollinators are less active.
Combined with Mars, we are a top buyer of almonds globally and when we undertook building our sustainability strategy, we realized that almonds are a very significant part of our carbon emissions. Given this outcome, we partnered with one of our largest suppliers to develop a three-year pilot test and learn program, where we are testing various regenerative practices on a 500-acre plot. The goal is to create a set of guidelines for our suppliers so that they can farm almonds using only regenerative practices such as employing green fertilizers and less water inputs. By installing irrigation pipes below the soil surface, farmers can bring the water closer to the plant roots and avoid evaporation in the hot California sun. According to the California Almond Board, the amount of water needed to grow a pound of almonds decreased by 33% in the past decades, and the growers have the ambition to further reduce another 20% by 2025. Last but not least, carbon sequestration over the 25-year life of the almond orchard also plays an important sustainability role. The vast majority of our Scope 3 emissions are coming from ingredients, so we are definitely keeping an eye out to expanding these types of initiatives beyond almonds.
R.S.: Being supported by Mars' resources and their “think big” mindset, we scaled up from simply helping pollinator populations to transitioning the U.S. almond crop towards regenerative farming. At first, these plans looked like a big challenge, but after seeing the potential global benefits on the long run, we felt much more empowered to continue implementing them.
The FDA updated the definition of "healthy" when it comes to food. What is KIND's own approach when it comes to explaining this concept?
R.S.: The single biggest public health concern in the U.S. market is the low intake of recommended foods, in the range of whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables. KIND's mission was, and will always be, to choose high quality ingredients and make snacks that help get more recommended foods in consumers' diets, without compromising on taste. Making delicious and nutritious go together, and helping Americans eat healthier, non-processed food made with ingredients that are easily recognizable, remain our focus in the years to come.
What would you outline as the key objectives for KIND Snacks in the near future?
R.S.: I inherited a brand purpose at KIND and my vision for the company over the next five years is to become the best in the world in delicious nutritious food. Building a great business, with fantastic products, that generates profits that can be reinvested to do meaningful changes in society, is the goal that pushes us forward every day.
E.J.: As we continue to grow the KIND business, we are focused on using exclusively regenerative almonds, opting for more recyclable packaging alternatives, and reducing our carbon footprint as a brand in a way that is transparent to our consumers.
