What makes New Zealand honey so special?

NZ Herald

Praise be for honey bees.

New Zealand produces some of the best honey in the world. Here, we discover what makes our honey so special, what to look for when choosing one and get the lowdown from one of the honey judges at the recent New Zealand Outstanding Food Producer Awards.

New Zealand honey is renowned worldwide for its exceptional quality, unique flavours and therapeutic properties. Produced in an environment with diverse flora and stringent beekeeping standards, New Zealand honey producers have a stellar reputation for their commitment to excellence in apiculture.

What this translates to for us, the consumer, is a deliciously natural product with antibacterial properties - particularly mānuka varieties.

Mānuka honey is perhaps our most famous honey export, originating from the nectar of the mānuka bush (Leptospermum scoparium). Renowned for its potent antibacterial properties, mānuka honey is sought-after for its purported health benefits, including wound healing and immune support. It even has its own grading system: UMF stands for “Unique Mānuka Factor”, used to measure the potency and quality of mānuka honey. The UMF rating indicates the level of certain compounds, such as methylglyoxal (MGO), dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and leptosperin, which are believed to contribute to the unique properties and potential health benefits of mānuka honey, such as its antibacterial and antiviral properties. The higher the UMF rating, the more potent and beneficial the honey is considered to be.

But there are many more varieties worthy of time in the spotlight, as evidenced by this year’s honey category at the Outstanding Food Producer Awards. Honey judge Kathy Paterson says the reason New Zealand honey is so special is “our sense of place, regional nuances and clever honey farmers. It’s the ability to provide native trees and shrubs - mānuka, kānuka, rewarewa - and pasture plants, including clover, to feed bees year-round”.

For Paterson (also a food writer), this year’s awards were a brilliant opportunity to discover what is coming out of our hives.. “We look closely at the texture of the honey, ensuring it corresponds with the type of honey, as referred to on its label,” she says, explaining the judging.

Raw honey and pure honey are terms often used, but they differ slightly; they are both taken directly from the hive, but pure honey is gently filtered whereas raw honey isn’t - it’s honey in its purest form.

Pure honey is dense and trickles only into a stream. It has a soft texture, will never separate into layers, and offers a distinct sweet aroma. Raw honey often leaves a slight tingling feeling or a mild burning sensation in your throat when consumed.

If you ever find your honey has crystallised, definitely don’t throw it out – it just means your honey is delicious, good to eat and has the good stuff; pollen that remains because the honey is minimally processed. Crystallisation is a natural process where the liquid honey turns semi-solid, with an almost granular look. It is a tell-tale sign you are buying real honey.

After giving each honey the sniff test at the awards, the really exciting part is the tasting, says Paterson. “One example this year was a chai spice honey – we were tasting for balance of flavour, i.e. no one spice in the chai mixture was overwhelming the others.”

See this year’s medal results below and get ready to sweeten your day.

Gold medals

Black Shepherd Apiaries, Black Shepherd Kānuka Honey

Branch Creek Honey, Branch Creek Creamed Clover Blend Honey

Branch Creek Honey, Branch Creek Raw Clover Blend Honey

Branch Creek Honey, Branch Creek Raw Comb Honey

Hunt and Gather Bee Co, Hunt and Gather Chai Spice Honey

MonsFlavors, Chai Honey

Neudorf Black, Neudorf Black Honey

Woodland’s Organic Honey, MGO100+ Organic Raw Mānuka Honey

Woodland’s Organic Honey, MGO450+ Organic Raw Mānuka Honey

Woodland’s Organic Honey, MGO550+ Organic Raw Mānuka Honey