Global retailers taste NZ mānuka honey offerings
Thousands of honey retailers and professionals worldwide are getting a taste of the remarkable properties of New Zealand mānuka honey.
Commercial beekeepers have voted not to support the introduction of a honey levy.
Just 23.56% of beekeepers voted for the introduction of a commodity levy led by industry organisation Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ).
While ApiNZ is disappointed, family beekeepers Rural News spoke to have welcomed the news, saying they are already under enough financial pressure in a market flooded with non-manuka floral honey. "We were worried the corporates with their tens of thousands of hives would outnumber the traditional family beekeeping businesses," says one long-term beekeeper.
ApiNZ chair Bruce Wills says, “It’s no secret that this is not the outcome I, or the board, wanted to see. I believe it will set back the development of the honey industry, but I understand that at present commercial beekeepers are hurting with the erosion in honey prices as a result of over-supply, for all floral types other than mānuka honey.”
“We understand that affordability is a real issue for beekeepers at this time. The current season has been disappointing, and many beekeepers are in survival mode and don’t want to incur any extra cost when their revenues are under such pressure.
“The whole of industry must accept the decision the beekeepers have made, but it is a disappointing result for future development of the industry, particularly given the experience and examples of other successful primary sectors who are collectively focused and funded based on everyone contributing financially to industry good outcomes.
“With hindsight, even though the levy was considered to be sustainable in either easy or difficult times, it was not the ideal time to put the levy proposition to the vote. However, despite the outcome the challenges and issues faced by the industry remain the same and ApiNZ is committed to continuing to work on these through its work programmes and industry focus groups.”
Final results as advised by Electionz.com are:
Vote Count (based on 26 hives or more): 76.44% voted No compared with 23.56% who voted Yes.
Weighted vote (based on hive numbers of those who voted): The No votes represented 64.03% of the total registered beehives of those who voted; while the Yes votes represented 35.97% of the total registered beehives of those who voted.
Voter turnout: 60.96% of all eligible voters voted in the levy referendum (being 1,057 votes received from 1,734 eligible honey producers).
Recent rain has offered respite for some from the ongoing drought.
New Zealand's TBfree programme has made great progress in reducing the impact of the disease on livestock herds, but there’s still a long way to go, according to Beef+Lamb NZ.
With much of the North Island experiencing drought this summer and climate change projected to bring drier and hotter conditions, securing New Zealand’s freshwater resilience is vital, according to state-owned GNS Science.
OPINION: Otago farmer and NZ First MP Mark Patterson is humble about the role that he’s played in mandating government agencies to use wool wherever possible in new and refurbished buildings.
For Wonky Box co-founder Angus Simms, the decision to open the service to those in rural areas is a personal one.
The golden age of orcharding in West Auckland was recently celebrated at the launch of a book which tells the story of its rise, then retreat in the face of industry change and urban expansion.
OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of…
OPINION: The irony of President Trump’s tariff obsession is that the worst damage may be done to his own people.