Birds Eye has launched a new campaign to highlight the link between biodiversity and the food chain, as it showcases its efforts to protect biodiversity through its sustainable farming processes. The ‘Peas For Bees’ campaign is running across TV, Digital, PR, in-store and on-pack, and aims to educate the nation on the importance of sourcing food sustainably and biodiversity, as well as what shoppers can do to help protect it.

As part of the campaign, the UK’s leading frozen brand will run an on-pack promotion spanning the Birds Eye Garden Peas and Petits Pois ranges. Running until 10th June, shoppers will have the chance to win 1 of 20,000 wildflower seed boxes and take protecting biodiversity into their own hands. Shoppers can enter the on-pack-promotion by simply taking a photo of the front of the pack and upload it to the dedicated microsite to instantly discover if they are a winner.

With estimates indicating the global population will reach almost 10 billion by 2050[1], manufacturers face a challenge in how to source food sustainably to feed the growing number of people, without destroying biological diversity. Biodiversity loss currently stands at an estimated global level of 100 to 1000 times higher than the naturally occurring background extinction rate[2]. Research suggests that agriculture is currently responsible for 60% of global biodiversity loss and 82% of the population believe companies have a moral obligation to protect it[3]. 

James Hopwood, Head of Agriculture Operations at Birds Eye, said: “Shoppers are increasingly looking for brands that make a positive impact on the planet, and at Birds Eye we are committed to playing our part in helping solve the biodiversity crisis. In fact, it’s embedded in Birds Eye’s resolution to ‘serve the world with better food’: we are dedicated to providing quality food to our consumers and the impact of its production on the planet is part of this quality standard.”

Birds Eye has already made great progress in its commitments to sustainable agricultural farming, from practicing sustainable agriculture techniques to nurturing long-term relationships with local farmers to encourage sharing of expertise and values. In 2020, Birds Eye’s pea farm management group became the first farm group in the UK, and the first globally in frozen food, to be awarded Gold level status in the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment – the highest level possible.

James Hopwood continues, “Through the ‘Peas For Bees’ campaign, beyond highlighting what we are doing as a company to actively replenish biodiversity, we want to highlight to shoppers the importance of it for their futures, and the future of the planet, and what they can do themselves to safeguard our food chain. We want to inspire our shoppers to protect biodiversity through growing wildflowers, which in turn provide habitats for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. With 20,000 wildflower boxes up for grabs, the on-pack promotion across our packs of Birds Eye Peas and Petits Pois takes our commitment to supporting biodiversity that one step further, moving beyond our pea fields and into the nation’s own green spaces.”

To symbolise the launch of the campaign, Birds Eye has also donated a significant area within one of its active pea fields and planted a 25-metre-wide butterfly at one of its pea farms in North Yorkshire. Once blossomed, the native wildflowers will encourage a wide range of pollinating insects and other wildlife to thrive in the area. The bloomed butterfly also kicks off the brand’s pledge to plant 75 acres of wildflowers across the UK in the next three years, in celebration of the 75 years that Birds Eye has been growing peas in North Yorkshire.

The on-pack promotion will run across the majority of the Birds Eye Garden Peas and Petits Pois ranges and will be available in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Morrisons, Co-op and Waitrose from the 2nd May until 10^th June. Shoppers who buy the products can instantly discover if they have won by uploading a photo of the front of their purchased pack to www.birdseyeseedbox.co.uk

[1] https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2019.html

[2] https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/98443/1/Conservation_Biology_2014_early-view.pdf”

[3] http://www.biodiversitybarometer.org/consumers-views-2020 consultato il 29.7.21