Our products are genuine and authentic, because we control the full process ourselves. From the hive to your table.
We manage the full process ensuring we know the quality of our product from the beginning the the end. From owning our own land and Mānuka plantations, to our 30 Bee Keepers out in the field placing our hives in natural environments to the Extraction and Production teams where we use our own factory - it’s even us who package your honey up and sell it to you in our retail stores or send it to you so it arrives on your doorstep- we do it all in house with our team. We are family and we like to think we have a unique process.
Land
Source sites that are remote and pure. We work with land owners and our own land to ensure the practices are sustainable. Our sites are placed throughout the country, we own some of our land sites and others we work closely with land owners for placement of our hives.
Bees
In the summer months, when the sun is shining and flowers are in bud, bee collects nectar – returning it to the hive.
We collect that honey from the hive, extracting it at our facility in Hawkes Bay & testing it. The honey is placed into drums and stored until we are ready to pack it. The drums get transported to our Auckland Factory where they are warmed to the natural temperatures of the hives. Then the drums are transferred to the VATs. This is when the honey is mixed and tested to make sure it meets our purity and quality measures before packing it into jars.
Once it has been packed into jars, the last round of testing is completed before the product is released for sale. It gets labelled and stored in our temperature controlled storage. Finally, it is shipped to our loyal customers and retail partners.
Field Management
Through remote terrain, where trucks can’t be imagined, helicopters are flown in to carry Mānuka honey and hives from deep within dense bush and off distant craggy mountain ranges.
Our beekeepers work around the clock over the summer months (when the nectar is flowing), even to the point where they miss their summer holidays and key celebrations such as Christmas! This is because it is the peak time to be moving hives in and out of sites to ensure the most pure nectar flow is collected and that the bees have the best food source available.
We are at the mercy of the environment and with that comes challenges such as weather and rugged terrain. All of these natural elements are what makes this business and product- New Zealand honey so unique.
We collect the honey from the hive and transfer the honey frames to our Extraction facility for extraction.
Extraction Process
Honey is gently warmed to allow careful extraction from the honeycomb at our specialised extraction facility in the Hawkes Bay – Melita Honey.
Honey is placed into drums and core samples are taken and sent away to independent labs for testing.
Honey is then placed into our storage facility awaiting processing and packing at our Auckland Facility.
Our team have crafted an extraction process that is efficient and also ensures there is as little human interference as possible. This is done at our state of the art facility in Hawkes Bay with our team.
The natural flavours, aromas, textures, colours and purity within Manuka honey are all retained with our extraction systems. Hive temperatures are replicated and there is no need for secondary processing.
Production Process
Drums are transported to our Auckland Factory from our storage facility once we are ready to pack it in order to meet our customers and sales requirements.
Drums are warmed to the natural temperatures of the hives to facilitate processing. They are transferred to the VATs where the honey is filtered to ensure purity and quality.
The honey is then gently stirred in our VATs and a starter seed added (the honey that has already been creamed where the crystilisation process has been retarded). It is this starter seed that then mixes and turns the batch of honey into thick creamy honey with a smooth and velvety texture- attempting to remove the grainy texture you might find elsewhere.
Samples are taken and sent away for testing to make sure it meets our purity and quality measures before packing it into jars.
Once test results are received the honey is labelled according to its floral source / purity tests. In the case of UMF® Mānuka Honey packed according to its UMF® Grade and a final retention sample is sent away for a release document test result to show the consumer the quality and purity of the honey.
Getting our Product to the Customer
Once final testing and release documents are received, the honey is stored in our ambient chillers, awaiting our happy customers to purchase. We send our products to over 16 countries worldwide through our network of resellers and distributors. Of course, you can also buy our honey right here on our website, or in our two Concept Stores in Auckland and Queenstown and numerous resellers around the country. For a full list see here.
We also have a database where customers can enter their batch information to see their honey's test results- check yours here.
