Manuka Honey Madness

Why is this sight of stacks of beehives going to become more familiar?

The manuka honey industry is growing like mad. The annual value of honey exports is up by 45% to $286mill in the 12 months to December 2015.

Did you catch that? 45% increase! Little old NZ!

So what does this mean? And why is it happening?

Manuka honey stats

Well, it's all from our manuka honey. And guess what? No one else makes manuka honey. IN THE WORLD!

Check out my blog post here on Business of Bees for all the in-depth stats and analysis, but the executive summary is that NZ is punching way above our weight in terms of value of honey exports. We are right up near the top in terms of $ value, although not for volume.

Which means manuka honey is much more expensive than other honeys. Well, we know this...I bought a 500g jar of honey at the market for $60 last weekend. $60! To spread on my toast!

Another great reason to get into this industry

So say you don't actually want to deal with the bees; cute furry little creatures, but they do sting. Well, how about planting manuka?

All those beekeepers are going to need manuka trees to put their beehives near, right? 

It's estimated that a new manuka plantation on marginal hill country can return 10-15% yearly on the cost of establishment.

For more on this check out the resources on Business of Bees