Woolworths creates a buzz with first-ever supermarket for bees

AUCKLAND, Today: Spring brings life back to nature, with leaves, flowers, and crops flourishing. But all that depends on bees, whose global population has dropped by 50% over the last 75 years.

Since 70% of human crops rely on bee pollination, Woolworths launched the world’s first supermarket for bees to raise awareness of their importance.

The Woolworths for Bees store, aimed at their first non-human market, was stocked with flowers rich in pollen and nectar, specially selected with beekeepers and botany experts.

Designed with bees in mind, the store featured spring specials, including New Zealand natives like Mānuka and Kōwhai, plus an ‘ultraviolet aisle’ full of bees’ favourite purple and blue flowers.

Popping up at Ambury Farm during the spring school holidays, the store wasn’t just for bees—humans enjoyed interactive learning, meeting beekeepers, and taking home seeds for bee-friendly gardens.

Woolworths Director of Brand, Bríd Drohan-Stewart, said, “Without a healthy bee population, the entire food chain is impacted. And that’s not just produce.

“By creating Woolworths for Bees, we wanted to bring awareness to our pollinators and how our ecosystems and supermarkets are all connected.” – Bríd Drohan-Stewart

“Other supermarket staples also rely on bee pollination and wouldn’t be available for us to enjoy without bees. As a supermarket, Woolworths is uniquely positioned to educate people about this issue.”

She added, “By creating Woolworths for Bees, we wanted to bring awareness to our pollinators and how our ecosystems and supermarkets are all connected, while creating a fun and unique experience to keep Tamariki entertained over the school holidays.”

Alex Barlow, Head of Talent & Activations at dentsu, shared, “With Woolworths’ new brand platform ‘That Fresh Food Feeling,’ we brought fresh thinking to this spring campaign… activations create emotional connections between consumers and brands.”

Dentsu Aotearoa also adopted beehives for their Auckland office through Bees Up Top to further support bee awareness.

Ambury Farm was buzzing with bees enjoying their favourite flowers. Woolworths NZ Marketing Manager, Kelly Sheerin-Niua, noted, “It’s a bit harder to get feedback from our new bee customers, but our beekeeper said the bees have been buzzing and the park rangers said Ambury Farm has never been busier!”

Running from September 28th to October 6th, Woolworths for Bees closed after the holidays, with all store materials donated to Ambury Farm and Sustainable Schools. Community groups and gardeners replanted the flowers in their own gardens.