Business Rural North Autumn 2021

4 | RURAL PEOPLE » Settler’s Honey Honey produced, Relocating hives by helicopter. Settler’s Honey CFO Caleb Gray says proximity to the source of the honey, manuka flowers, is key. Virginia Wright Specialised Four wheel drive training, ATV driver training, Tractor training, and Custom farmcourses www.DTTS.co.nz | 021 658 929 | gene@DTTS.co.nz We provide rural and farm vehicle training—tractors, quad bikes, side by sides, 4WDs and chainsaw are our speciality. We can provide NZQA or custom courses incorporating a number of farm vehicles. Working all around NZ, DTTS has direct links to manufacturers—so we under- stand your vehicles better than most trainers. We can come to you, so our training is always relevant for your farm and your farm vehicles. The sort of honey you might put on your toast is known as bush whereas manuka honey with a rating higher than 10+ UMF grading is considered medicinal “so wounds, rashes, if you’re getting sick you might put it in your cup of tea and so on,” explains Caleb. “We produce the full spread of honey, so our Ma- kowhai Honey label is bush and clover honey and then our Settler’s Honey label is the graded manuka honey ranging from 5+ all the way up to 25+.” As summer begins to fade into autumn the harvest begins. All the beekeepers bring their boxes to the extraction plant at Ngamatapouri where they run double shifts in the busy months. Working site by site the extracted honey from each location goes into drums where it’s tested by a third party. As the orders roll in honey is selected and blended to meet the customers requirements. As the company grows so does the infrastructure with the increasing quantities of honey coming in. But no matter how big they get Caleb’s confident that the plant will stay where it is. “Henry’s passionate about his history,” he ex- plains. “An ethos of his is that the honey should be produced, processed, and potted on the family land, which obviously has some logistical issues given the remoteness, but that’s the point of difference that Henry wants to make.” Historically Settler’s Honey was doing a lot of bulk shipping of drums to overseas buyers, but recently there’s been a big brand overhaul and an expanded focus into potted honey. A new packing plant up the valley can put 10 tons of honey a day into jars for shipping both locally and overseas. “It’s a brand that’s unique unto itself with its strong roots at Ngamatapouri and Henry’s focus on sustainability and having organic produce. He’s got a nursery up the valley producing 500,000 manuka seedlings a year so it’s a story everyone likes, especially these days. Settlers Honey has certified organic honey com- ing this season from large areas of land it owns that has reverted to manuka naturally, surrounded by forest, meaning it has not been exposed to chemi- cals from modern agricultural activities. “This all ties in with our organic vision.” S ettler’s Honey has its offices in Whanganui, but the heart of the business is an hour’s drive away on a sheep and beef farm at Ngamatapouri. Caleb Gray has been the CFO of Settler’s Honey for over a year but the contrast of the honey processing plant against the background of remote farmland is something he never tires of. “At the end of New Zealand’s longest no exit road, in the midde of nowhere, at the foot of the Waitotara Forest Park lies one of New Zealand’s largest Manuka Honey operations,” says Caleb. The man behind Settler’s Honey, Henry Mat- thews, was captivated by the bee industry in the early 2000’s, as Caleb explains. “He was working the family sheep and beef farm when he went into partnership with a com- mercial beekeeper back in 2009. He was hooked, and he started building up his hives and equip- ment until he established Settler’s Honey in 2014. That was around the same time that the manuka honey industry was starting to establish itself in New Zealand.” Henry’s initial holding of 750 hives grew along- side New Zealand’s manuka honey industry and he now has more than 20,000 hives spread over the lower north island. With the growth of the industry has come a lot of competition for land to put the hives on, but Henry’s company benefits from the large land holding, which he’s added to with land purchases over the years as well as parcels of lease land. Proximity to the source of the honey, the manuka flowers, is the key. ”We work hard to find locations of predominantly manuka. The seasons are very variable depending on the weather, but we’re now producing on average 500,000kgs of manuka honey per season.” Manuka honey is graded and given a UMF rating, the higher the rating the more medicinal qualities. A jar of honey rated 5+ might retail from $30, the higher the grade UMF the more the honey is worth, with prices increasing into the hundreds of dollars. Historically, Settler’s Honey was doing a lot of bulk shipping of drums to overseas buyers, but recently there’s been an expanded focus into potted honey.