Sweet global success for local honey business

Sweet global success for local honey business

Waikato honey business Haddrell’s has had sweet success on the world stage, picking up two coveted awards at the 2023 London International Honey Awards.

Haddrell’s Mānuka Honey UMF™ 22+ and Limited Edition Mānuka Honey UMF™ 25+ have both been awarded gold quality medals at the Awards, which recognise the very best honeys from around the world.

Products entered in the Awards are blind tasted by a panel of international expert judges and assessed on taste, appearance, odour, texture, flavour, and mouthfeel.

Renowned for its premium honey that comes from the unique nectar of New Zealand’s native mānuka tree, Haddrell’s specialises only in UMF™ mānuka honey. After 30 years of crafting mānuka honey, they are now true masters of perfection. The company is owned by Prolife Foods Ltd, one of New Zealand’s largest FMCG companies.

General manager international at Prolife Foods, Mike Sheeran, says mānuka honey is a complex and unique honey that has remarkable natural qualities, which separates it from other honey varieties. New Zealand mānuka honey has a unique taste, texture, and ability to support health & wellness which places it among the most treasured and revered honeys in the world. Haddrell’s winning honeys are two exceptional examples.

“Haddrell’s UMF™ 22+ and UMF™ 25+ mānuka honey are the pinnacle when it comes to mānuka honey potency. Only a very small amount of mānuka honey reaches these grades, making these two products very rare and highly sought after,” says Sheeran. 

“Winning these awards is validation of what we already know – Haddrell’s is a producer of premium mānuka honey. Our customers have been telling us this for years, but it is nice to show we can compete and excel against the world’s best honeys.”

In 2022, the brand was awarded two silver quality medals at the Awards. Sheeran says it is amazing to now achieve an even greater accolade by winning gold at the 2023 London International Honey Awards. 

Haddrell’s honey range comes direct from the beekeeper and is exported to more than 20 countries around the world. Prolife Foods’ honey division is completely vertically integrated with approximately 10,000 hives, an extraction plant and Agriculture and Food Safe Quality Food (SQF) accredited packing plant. With their wealth of knowledge and expertise from beekeeping to the science of mānuka, the teams ensure the bees and the honey are carefully managed through the entire process.

Haddrell’s is one of the founding members of the Unique Mānuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA), meaning all its UMF™-rated honeys are independently certified guaranteeing product quality.

Later this year Haddrell’s winning honeys will be on display at Anuga. Held in Germany in October, this is one of the world’s largest trade shows providing an opportunity for food producers to showcase their products and connect with trade partners.

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