8 | Taranaki: True Honey REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT T T Kim Newth High grade honey hits the sweet spot The True Honey Co. Rare Harvest 2050 MGO mānuka honey, released last year as a limited edition and priced at $2500 a jar, ranks as the most potent mānuka honey ever made. When Jim McMillan founded The True Honey Co. in 2014, his goal was to build a premium New Zealand mānuka honey brand based on authenticity, trust and transparency. Today, the company’s high-grade honey is hitting the sweet spot with consumers all over the world. The True Honey Co. Rare Harvest 2050 MGO mānuka honey, released last year as a limited edition and priced at $2500 a jar, ranks as the most potent mānuka honey ever made. MGO stands for methylglyoxal, an organic compound responsible for mānuka honey’s special antibacterial properties. The higher the MGO, the more powerful the mānuka benefits. The True Honey Co. Rare Harvest mānuka honey is around 20 times more potent than that typically sold in supermarkets. “This is the third time in a row now that we have managed to exceed the highest grade, independently verified and tested mānuka honey ever made. The first time we did that was a few years ago with a batch of 1700 MGO mānuka honey. Then we exceeded that with 1900 MGO honey, which was jointly launched with Harrods in London; they purchased the entire inventory. “Sixty per cent of our Rare Harvest 2050 MGO stock was pre-sold ahead of the launch. This batch of products was also sold to highend luxury department stores, as well as high net worth private individuals, primarily in the Middle East region. Some also went to Germany and China.” As Jim observes, it took a 10-year effort and focus on the finer points of honey production - along with the right convergence of time, place, climate and environment - to reach the 2050 MGO rating. There’s no guarantee that honey of this potency will be produced again – “but we continue to strive to exceed our past record.” Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the Middle East are currently the company’s largest export market. The next key market in sight is China, where Jim says there is already good knowledge about natural health and awareness of mānuka honey’s benefits. The company has recently launched a flagship store on China’s biggest e-commerce platform Tmall. “We chose Tmall as we primarily want to be able to sell direct to consumers and build our knowledge and understanding around their requirements.” South of Dannevirke, it’s a hive of activity. This is where The True Honey Co.’s factory is established for honey processing, extraction and storage. “As a business owner, I’m very proud of the fact that we have generated employment opportunities within rural New Zealand.” “As a business owner, I’m very proud of the fact that we have generated employment opportunities within rural New Zealand. At peak, we have up to 50 casual staff working at that facility. A lot of the casual staff are mums or younger people looking for a new employment opportunity. It has been great to do that for the community.” Jim’s fascination for mānuka honey goes back to 2011. His work in the helicopter sector at that time often took him to remote back country areas, where he discovered some large pristine stands of mānuka. “That’s really what seeded the idea to start my own business.” Back in the early stages of developing The True Honey Co. brand, Jim worked closely with Professor Peter Molan, the scientist who discovered the unique properties of mānuka honey. Through this, Jim learned that only mānuka honey of 300 MGO and above would deliver consistent health benefits. “That’s why only 300 MGO and above qualifies for our range. We specialise in the production of high to ultra-grade honey and that’s the focus for our whole team. One of the biggest rewards for us is all the feedback we have received from honey lovers over the years around the health and wellbeing benefits of consuming our honey.” Consultation with prospective landowners led to the development of a transparent system enabling real time data to be shared with them on honey production activities. Consumer feedback from around the world has guided key decisions on the brand, including use of glass jars and sustainable materials in packaging. The team is currently working on several exciting new health and wellbeing products containing mānuka honey for release later this year. Looking for a truly sweet, world-class printer?
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