We literally go the extra mile to establish the locations where our honey is collected from. Our main focus lies on the remoteness to avoid unwanted contamination through human activity such as farming, traffic and industry, which are the prerequisites for a contaminant-free end product. Also, we are looking to place the beehives in a number of different locations within one region to maximize the organoleptic variety. This enables us to react to different customer wishes and stipulations.
Some markets require low C4 sugar levels, which are achieved through careful management of the bees in winter. As Manuka Honey for instance contains natural C4 sugars that increase over time, our emphasis is on managing the bees in a way that makes it impossible for foreign C4 sugars to end up in our honey. In our organic honey production systems, we do not supplement the winter feed with sugar syrup. All year round the bees have access to either honey or honeydew, which benefits the bees by keeping them healthier.
By filling our honey into retail-ready packs in New Zealand, our customers can grow consumer confidence when it comes to authentic and non-adulterated honey that is thoroughly tested and guaranteed for purity and grade. We are only using experienced, independent and accredited laboratories onshore and overseas that have a vast knowledge about honey and a large honey database. Our governmental body called the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) supervises this process.
New Zealand produces around 23,000 tonnes of honey annually, whereas Manuka honey is estimated to be 4000 tonnes. This is only 0.2% of the world's production of honey and makes Manuka honey the rarest commercially harvested honey in the world.