The KIND story
KIND® was conceived in 2003 by Daniel Lubetzky, a social entrepreneur that TIME Magazine recognized in 2009 among “25 Responsibility Pioneers” and BusinessWeek named among “America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs.”
In 1994, Daniel first founded PeaceWorks Foods, a “not-only-for-profit”® company that fosters economic cooperation among neighbors striving to co-exist in conflict regions worldwide. PeaceWorks® launched several award-winning healthy food products and its joint ventures continue to bring people together, but Daniel was still searching for that elusive snack that was wholesome and convenient, tasty and healthy at the same time.
The KIND brand™ philosophy
In 2003, after many years of working on this passion, the team launched KIND, based on two principles: a) the power of AND, and b) holistic kindness.
The Power of AND: We pride ourselves on creating new paths that avoid false compromises. Instead of “Or” we Say “And.” We choose healthy and tasty, convenient and wholesome, economically sustainable and socially impactful. KIND Fruit and Nut bars achieve this by ensuring that we don’t sacrifice taste to achieve health, or wholesomeness to achieve portability.
Holistic Kindness: For us “being KIND,” means to “Be KIND to your body, your taste buds, and the world.”® KIND to Your Body and to your taste buds is manifested through the use of all natural wholesome ingredients you can see and pronounce® like whole nuts and real fruit. The KIND social mission is embodied in the KIND Movement, which inspires not so random KINDINGS – ie, unexpected acts of kindness. Here too, the act of KINDING someone else makes both the recipient of the kindness, and the person doing the kinding, just a little happier.
Moving Forward
In many ways, KIND is a logical next step in the evolution of PeaceWorks’ “not-only-for-profit” business model – with an economic as well as a social bottom line. PeaceWorks sets out to bring neighbors in conflict regions to work together and shatter cultural stereotypes that dehumanize people. KIND builds on his passion to bring people together, this time working to break barriers created among us all in modern society. By challenging our zone of comfort and our impersonal routines, we hope that we will discover our shared humanity with people who we don’t know and may never again see in our lives, but who we can make a little better off by surprising them with an uncommon gesture of kindness.
As KIND grew, it and PeaceWorks were spun off and separated, to allow each to focus on their core missions with absolute clarity and focus. Kind’s vision is to transform mindless snacking into KIND Snacking: snacking that is KIND to your body, your taste buds, & the world.® KIND is now an independent company, wholly separate from PeaceWorks. AND both companies continue to work to make the most delicious food products and to do their little part to make the world a better place.