8 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT The Mānuka Collective Two in a row for collective The Mānuka Collective again took out the supreme award at the 2022 Apiculture New Zealand National Honey Competition, Kelly Deeks The Mānuka Collective is producing some of New Zealand’s best honey, taking out the supreme award at the 2022 Apiculture New Zealand National Honey Competition, as well as placing in half of the 22 award categories with seven gold and four silver awards. The win marks two in a row for The Mānuka Collective, which is always looking for improvement. Having taken out four gold medals in 2021 and two in 2019, The Mānuka Collective will enter again next year and is aiming for three in a row. The Mānuka Collective operations manager Jarved Allan says the awards confirm The Mānuka Collective is exporting a world class product. He says everyone in the business is taking real ownership of the awards and the high quality product they are producing. “They have a sense of pride and they understand it’s not all about exporting dairy and wine anymore, other food producing industries are starting to put their hands up. We’re punching above our weight down here in little old Timaru.” This award success follows more big news from The Mānuka Collective this year, when Timaru-based 100% Pure New Zealand Honey announced in February it was merging with Hamilton’s Three Peaks Mānuka Honey to form The Mānuka Collective. Jarved says the two companies combined have greater potential in the world market, as a bigger business can take on bigger customers, and the past six months have seen a worldwide increase in people wanting to buy honey. “People are looking at it as a natural health product, and will choose to have a teaspoon of honey a day instead of taking their vitamins.” While overseas, mānuka honey has always been seen and used as a natural medicine and since Covid, the average Kiwi has started to see it the same way. “It’s not just about a spread on your crumpet, it’s about general wellbeing. We’re taking the goodness of mānuka honey to the world, and we want to educate Kiwis as well.” While there is currently an oversupply of mānuka honey in the marketplace, Jarved says once the decks have been cleared in the coming 12 to 18 months, The Mānuka Collective wants to move forward as an industry and will start working to unite New Zealand’s honey supply chain so it can take on the global market collectively, to its full potential. “It’s a big world out there and we’ve all got our own markets, we’ve all got our own customers. We should be pushing together as a whole industry.” And it’s not just about mānuka. New Zealand has a diverse range of flora, and The Mānuka Collective has the option to try to sell these honeys overseas. “As 100% Pure New Zealand Honey, we always bought all our honey from independent beekeepers from all over New Zealand. We want to continue these relationships with independent beekeepers, who are also passionate about helping the industry grow even more. We want them to feel like they are part of the collective and help the industry.” “People are looking at it as a natural health product, and will choose to have a teaspoon of honey a day instead of taking their vitamins.”
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