Honey industry still in a sticky situation

The end of the Kiwi honey boom and changes to Mānuka honey testing have left the honey industry struggling and frustrated.

Beekeeper of 26 years Steve Wooton has seen the industry go through highs and lows, and said the past four years have been the toughest.

Wooton began his beekeeping career at 15 as a way to get out of school in Hawea, Central Otago. His grandfather had a hive in his backyard and his interest was piqued.

After nearly three decades working with bees, even Wooton is struggling in what was a thriving industry just four years ago.

Then, the peak value for New Zealand honey was $14 a kilo. It has crawled back to $6 since then.

“I would argue we need to be at $8.50, to do better than just buy groceries,” Wooton said.

There are very clear reasons why the industry is now struggling, he said.

Since the Ministry for Primary Industries changed the testing requirements for the most lucrative honey, Mānuka, in 2017, beekeepers have had to meet five attributes – four chemical markers and one DNA marker from Mānuka pollen.

This meant bush honey and clover that was marketed as Mānuka under the old testing regime had a much lower value. Honey that was selling at $11 a kilo dropped back to $2.50.

“We lost 60-70% overnight and it costs about $8.50 to produce the product.”

New Zealand honey started to lose shelf space overseas. 

“Our clover used to be recognised as one of the best in the world and we no longer have that space for them and all of a sudden we had thousands of honey jars that couldn’t be sold.

“The domestic market is flooded with competition because everyone wanted to find an outlet for their honey. By the time you put all the costings in there is not a lot left over, it is all pretty tight.

“It has been four, five years of struggle and we are starting to come out the other side, but it hasn’t been spoken about as much as it should be.” 

Keeping 4200 hives, Wooton has a solid foundation to carry on, but said there are plenty who have left the industry and many are struggling mentally.

Statistics back Wooton up. The industry has gone from having around 1.1 million hives to under 500,000.

“I advertised five years ago and you’d get 20-30 applications and this time around we are finding no one suitable … that is a pretty clear indicator where the industry is.”

The NZ honey industry would do better to concentrate on its own marketing than be looking across the ditch at the Australian manuka honey, he said.

He said NZ honey producers must work out a way to be recognised on price point for the purity in its Mānuka testing.

Kiwis can also help the honey industry by buying honey online directly from their favourite brands, as well as buying it as a health product.