Yoplait stresses importance of bees for food
Yoplait and the General Mills Foundation are working alongside the OFA to fight the disappearance of bees and maintain French agricultural production.
Yoplait said that almost a third of human food relies upon pollination, but pollinators are currently at risk due to certain insecticides used in agriculture, the emergence of new predators such as the Asian hornet, and also because of the lack of flowers for food.
The OFA's mission is to help restock bees in France and Europe, through applied research, the training of beekeepers and the creation of specialized apiculture farms.
Sowing the seeds
On June 20, more than 2,000 employees of the General Mills Group in France (including Yoplait) was given a bag of seeds to encourage bees, which they were invited to sow near the company’s six French factories and the head office in Boulogne-Billancourt.
Each bag contained seeds to cover 10m2, resulting in potentially 20,000m2 of flowers for pollinating species to take advantage of.
This local action is in addition to the global commitment of General Mills, which has been working since 2013 with the Xerces Society and the University of Minnesota entomologist Marla Spivak (member of the OFA Scientific Committee) to encourage research on pollinators and engage in effective action to help pollinators.
Yoplait brand products are distributed in more than 50 countries and generate sales of more than €5bn ($5.6bn). Since 2011, General Mills has been the majority shareholder of Yoplait S.A.S. Sodiaal, the largest French dairy.
