AWHI honey creates a buzz in the USA

“We’ve had a really good spring for the 2019/2020 season with a record year and crop, partly nature doing what nature does,” says Dan Adams, Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation Business Manager Apiary. “Our hives are strong and healthy, producing around 76 tonnes of high-quality mānuka honey. Last year our average yield per hive was 11kgs, this year just over 31kg – an increase in both quality and volume.”

Selling for as much as $145/kg wholesale, this bumper season has kicked off the export programme to the USA market and Dan says the team are working hard to keep up with sales with another order being prepared for immediate shipment.

And plans are afoot to extend the range of products within the Awhi Honey brand to help satisfy customer demand.

“Producing single source honey without feeding supplementary food like sugar syrup or artificial pollen is something commercial beekeepers can’t avoid,” says Dan. “Our vision is to do this less and less until our hives become naturally sustained in the same place all year round.”

“Currently our bees feed exclusively on mānuka, which only flowers for 4 - 6 weeks of the year, which isn’t enough.” “In order to keep our hives producing for longer, we have started planting species like kōwhai and rewarewa, that flower and produce nectar and pollen at different times.”

“This will mean we can offer customers different honey types, depending on where the bees are collecting from.”

Another first for Awhi Honey is the production of rare organic honey.

“We are only one of two or three suppliers that can produce organically certified NZ mānuka honey which is a real step forward for our business,” says Dan. “It also commands a higher price because of its exclusivity.”

Awhi Mānuka honey is rated very highly for its medicinal qualities. The honey UMF (Unique Mānuka Factor) scale is from 0 - 30+ and most of the honey ĀtihauWhanganui Inc bees produce is at least 20+.

“This means that in international markets our 250g jar is not likely to be something consumers will just put on their toast. They will put it next to their first aid kit as it is regarded almost as a medicine in its own right,” explains Dan.

The honey business can be a volatile one, as the recent international speculation around traces of the weed-killer glyphosate being found in NZ honey shows.

“We wanted to ensure that our honey wasn’t tainted, so we carried out testing of our most recent crops,” says Dan.

“We do use glyphosate in some small areas where we spray out grass to put in feed crops, so we can identify very accurately where we use this on our properties.”

“The testing came back negative, so we can prove Awhi Honey is pure. This is something we are looking to leverage in our marketing.”

The Awhi Honey team of 11 beekeepers, who are predominantly uri or shareholders, are always on the look-out for finding and developing new team members.

“One of the initiatives in this area is taking on students from Ruapehu College who want to do work experience in the agri-business sector,” says Dan. “We want to create a pipeline of young local people that could potentially become part of what we do here.”