Snack Bar CEO pledges $25 Million to fund health policy watchdog group

pulse

February 16, 2017 1:20 PM

Daniel Lubetzky has announced that he’s pledging $25 million to help fend off the corporate food industry’s influence on public health.

Daniel Lubetzky

KINDs Daniel Lubetzky wants to fight Big Food and put the truth back in nutrition

Daniel Lubetzky, the founder and CEO of KIND Snacks, has announced that he’s pledging $25 million of his own money to help fend off the corporate food industry’s influence on public health, according to the Associated Press.

Lubetzky is using the money to create a watchdog group called Feed the Truth, which he says will promote truth, transparency, and integrity and hopes will help people make healthier nutrition decisions.

This seems like the next logical step for Lubetzky, 49, who has transformed his 13-year-old company from a line of healthy energy bars that use real ingredients into an operation of incredible commercial success, with more than 1 billion units sold and $673.4 million in revenue.

But to Lubetzky, KIND’s financial victories are second to its charitable endeavors.

Every month, for example, the company issues a series of $10,000 grants to people and organizations seeking to provide kindness and relief to those less fortunate.

So Lubetzky’s efforts to distance himself and his company from Big Food companies that influence public health policy aren’t surprising - not that that’s his goal, per se.

“I would hope that people say, okay, these guys are doing the right thing for society, I'm going to be more loyal to the brand,” Lubetzky told the AP.

Though Lubetzky will donate $2.5 million a year for the next 10 years to Feed the Truth, neither he nor kind will have any involvement with the group.

Instead, three big-name health and nutrition experts will name Feed the Truth’s board, which will hire an executive director, per the AP.

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