Me & the Bees Lemonade

A. The main facts about the activities of the company.

Me & the Bees Lemonade was formed in 2009, by founder Mikaila Ulmer who was 4 years old at the time. The company makes flaxseed lemonade naturally sweetened with honey. The idea for the product came to her when she got stung by a bee twice in one week, and she got her great grandma’s 1940s cookbook. After her bee stings she decided to look further into what bees do for the ecosystem, and so came the idea of Me & the Bees Lemonade into existence. The essence of the company is to sweeten the lemonade with honey instead of artificial sweeteners. Part of the profits go to local and international organizations with the mission to save the honeybee. Founder Mikaila is very active in educating people about the benefits of both flaxseed as well as the need and means to save the honey bee. The lemonade is available in an increasing number of stores throughout the US. When one buys a bottle of Me & the Bees Lemonade one contributes to the environment, contributes to one’s own health, and contributes to the survival of beekeepers and their honeybees. To sum up the activities of the company, they sell lemonade, they educated the public about the importance of honeybees, and they donate part of their profits to aid the survival of them.

B. The Ethical challenges this company is addressing.

The major challenge Me & the Bees Lemonade faces is to responsibly use the honeybee to make sure that half of the world’s crop do not get wasted. The company’s main concern is to preserve the world’s honey bee. This is why they are donating part of their profits to organization that promote this cause.
Honeybees are very important to preserve the flora and the fauna. They transport pollen what makes possible the crop of many fruits, plants and flowers. Without honeybees the entire ecosystem would be in danger. Unfortunately since the last decades honeybees are in extinction danger due to increased use of pesticides especially in the US, shrinking habitats, multiple viruses, poor nutrition and genetics, and even cell phone towers. Honeybees are a very delicate specie and the preservation of them is fundamental for the Human specie.
For this reason it’s very important that Me & the Bees Lemonade make sure that that crops are responsibly used and that the money they are donating is well used too.

C. What makes you believe this company is really ethical and why you trust it?

We believe the Me & the Bees Lemonade brand to be highly ethical because not only does it attempt to solve a problem that concerns all of us (see above) but it was actually founded in pursuit of a solution for it. The founder aspires to support honeybees, which are an important factor in our ecosystem by donating a percentage of the company’s profit to local and international organizations that are fighting hard to save them. By donating parts of the gains the company shows their commitment to the cause and proves its intentions to be upright honest.
In contrary to most other lemonade companies Me & the Bees not only intends to support honeybees (and through that society) by selling an ethical product but the company also engages in an ethical way of producing the lemonade. They do not attempt to cut costs wherever possible but work with fresh and local ingredients as well as local honey to create their products. In our opinion the motivation of this company is without a doubt driven by the desire to support others and society and hence creating a better life for all of us.

D.The possible challenges facing the company in the future and how you think this company may improve.

The biggest obstacle Me & the Bees Lemonade faces is coping with expansion and scaling. They pride themselves in having honey without added preservatives in their product but as the company expands geographically being able to keep it organic yet fresh will only get harder and harder. Furthermore, coping with higher demand as the company grows can also be a potential challenge as it raises an ethical issue. The company was founded on the premise of saving the bees as the driving force but the increase in demand can lead to increased commercialized beekeeping which in return will have negative impact on the environment in the area due to overpopulation. Thus finding the balance between saving the bees and over cultivating is the biggest challenge for the company. Even though challenges exist, the potential to improve is also endless. The company can take the same business model and apply to more animals/plants that can in return further help the environment along with being a viable economical idea.