Egmont Honey Buys Tweeddale's, Now NZ's Biggest Apiary
New Plymouth-based Manuka honey exporter Egmont Honey has completed its acquisition of Taihape beekeeping business Tweeddale's Honey, with settlement finalised on Friday, 18 September.
A new digital series, backed by industry stakeholders, highlighting what makes the honey so special has been launched.
Thousands of honey retailers and professionals worldwide are getting a taste of the remarkable properties of New Zealand mānuka honey.
A new digital series, backed by industry stakeholders, highlighting what makes the honey so special has been launched.
Manuka Mastery is designed to help wholesalers, retailers, and nutritional health professionals better understand the honey to enable them to support the category as it gains more shelf space and grows its share in the $750 billion global natural health food category.
Made up of eight videos, the digital training series takes in the 1000-year history of the manuka tree in Aotearoa, the discovery of manuka honey health attributes, and the modern scientific discoveries which have substantiated its bioactive properties.
A key focus of Manuka Mastery is to highlight manuka honey’s antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and immune-boosting properties which underpin the numerous health benefits being investigated by researchers.
Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA) is an independent New Zealand-based society that has set and certified the standards for bioactive mānuka honey for over 25 years. Representing more than 80% of New Zealand’s mānuka honey exporters, UMFHA ensures the authenticity, quality, and bioactive content of every batch.
UMFHA chief executive Tony Wright emphasised the importance of providing training material for customers worldwide to equip their teams with tools to help consumers understand the high value, high quality, health package they are purchasing when buying UMF certified mānuka honey from New Zealand.
“The Manuka Mastery course helps tell New Zealand’s manuka honey story,” says Wright.
“The video and Q&A modules are brief, informative and easy to understand, and have been developed to support retailers cut through any customer confusion in the honey aisle.”
Users move through each module by watching a short video and answering questions afterwards. After successfully completing each module and the short final test, participants become certified New Zealand Manuka Honey Specialists. The new digital series launches in the United States first and will be available to all international markets shortly thereafter.
Manuka Mastery was a cross-industry collaboration between UMF Honey Association, UMFHA licensed export partners, Manuka Charitable Trust, independent laboratories, beekeepers, the University of Waikato and industry retail partners.
Entries opened on Monday, 5 October 2026 for the 2027 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA), which organisers describe as the nation's biggest celebration of excellence in the dairy sector.
Waikato milk processor Tatua has again declared a record milk payout to farmer shareholders, leaving other processors in the dust.
A Labour-led Government won’t be bringing back the controversial freshwater rules of 2020.
National’s much-touted free trade deal with India featured in the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek, Hamilton on Wednesday night.
New Zealand's 2026-27 freshwater fishing season has opened, with anglers encouraged to head to rivers and lakes over the coming days as conditions look favourable across much of the country.
Central Otago District Council (CODC) has voted against a plan to spread treated sewage sludge from Cromwell and Alexandra on farmland near Lauder, a decision Federated Farmers says reflects strong opposition from rural residents.

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