09.03.08
Action at the Hive
A Q&A with Mariah Kulp of Burt’s Bees
By Melissa Meisel
Associate Editor
The buzz on Burt’s Bees has been on high volume for the past few years now. With a major presence in national drugstores, as well as a $925 million acquisition by Clorox last October, the 24-year-old eco-friendly line most known for its peppermint-scented beeswax lip balm has taken a major (and successful) foray into branches of the personal care market. Recent launches featured anti-aging, bath and body and baby care collections.
Burt's Bees is helping to save bees with proceeds from the sale of its lip balm. |
Mariah Kulp, manager, public relations, promotions and licensing, Burt’s Bees found some time to talk with HAPPI about the latest news and launches at the company for Fall 2008 and beyond:
HAPPI:
Is the new CCD balm the first fundraising product the company has marketed? How did you get involved with the cause?MK:
The new CCD Lip Balm is the first promotional lip balm Burt’s Bees has launched to raise awareness and funding for a cause. Colony Collapse Disorder is very near and dear to us at Burt’s Bees. We recognize the importance of bees in our ecosystem, knowing that 30% of the fruit- and vegetable-producing plants we rely on to feed our families need honeybee pollination to thrive, everything from watermelons, cranberries, peppers, almonds and pumpkins. Without honeybees, these crops—our food—are at risk.At Burt’s Bees, we’re working to do our part, by raising awareness about the disappearing honeybees through a variety of different initiatives while helping to fund research by the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign’s Honeybee Health Improvement Project, to find a solution for this critical environmental issue and improve the overall health and wellness of honeybees.
In fall of 2007, we worked with founder and beekeeper Burt Shavitz to produce a public service announcement to call attention to the issue of CCD, and empower consumers to help by buying local, organic foods and planting a packet of bee-friendly seeds offered for free on our website. The PSA ran before “Bee Movie” and we distributed 50,000 seed packets to consumers as a result – that’s millions of bee-friendly flowers.
The latest from Burt's Bees |
HAPPI:
How is the bath and body line selling? How did you choose the latest scent for it, peppermint?MK:
Overall, the natural personal care category is outpacing the personal care category significantly. Both our cleansing and care businesses are strong and Burt’s Bees is leading the growth across many personal care categories. Our products are not only effective at delivering powerful benefits to the skin and hair, but we do it without using ingredients like sodium laurel sulfate (SLS), parabens or petrochemicals that have a potential human health risk.As for the choice of peppermint in our new Fabulously Fresh Peppermint and Rosemary Body Bar, it’s the same natural ingredient we use to create a stimulating and refreshing experience with our Beeswax Lip Balm and our Peppermint Foot Lotion, both of which are consumer favorites and perfect for bath and shower.