Welcome back to another episode of the Plant Based News podcast, where we discuss the latest innovations and the remarkable stories of the people who are changing the vegan world. Joining me today is Darko Mandich, CEO and Co-Founder of MeliBio - an award-winning food technology company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Darko is an impact entrepreneur who is passionate about changing the way we produce and consume food in order to sustainably feed 10 billion people with nutritious foods while protecting the planet’s keystone species – the wild and native bees. Find out more about Melibio Foods here - https://www.melibio.com/ The PBN Podcast is hosted and produced by Robbie Lockie, edited by Phil Marriott and researched and scripted by Antonia Georgieva. 00:00:00 An introduction to Darko Mandich 00:02:18 CLIP: Saving The Bees (Flipbird Films interview) 00:04:00 The beginning of Darko’s vegan journey 00:07:37 CLIP: Game Changers Documentary 00:09:20 Deciding to work in the food industry 00:14:10 The inner world of the bee kingdom 00:17:50 CLIP: Saving The Bees (Flipbird Films interview) 00:19:07 The environmental impact of the honey industry 00:25:20 Why is the honey industry cruel? 00:31:10 What is honey? 00:39:20 The threat to bees caused by pesticides 00:43:10 Mellody: The world’s first plant-based honey 00:50:50 How will Darko get his product to millions of people? 00:57:00 Stranded on a desert island