ApiNZ and Japan

[Scientia Sit Potentia]

The value should be the same as any other food value. Nutrition and taste. Manuka has changed the thinking on honey from food to medicine.. and that's plain wrong.
As an amateur epicurean I value food for taste and experience. Honey ditto. I remember having rata honey on the shelves and how good it tasted with cocoa and oats etc in homemade muesli bars or on hot toast with butter.
I value honey in a white bread sandwich or poured onto porridge or as an ingredient in my muesli. Baklava without honey is not possible and dont even get ne started on glazes.

I dont like, and avoid, crappy cheese, cheap steaks, rough whiskey, young tequila and instant coffee. I buy fine tea and cook with butter not marg. I stopped eating honey until I made my own and now am competing with my kids for my spoonfuls.

At the community centre we spun out our own honey and the jars are all gone with people wanting more. This tastes like honey from my childhood is what we heard and we have people wanting more than we produced.

No where is there a hint of medical benefits being touted but the taste of good honey of a variety of tastes. Compared to the bland muck at the supermarket we have a desirable commodity.

Why cant we, like cheese and coffee and tea and ... sell on taste and variety? I'd buy that.

I am not arguing with personal view and the outcome of sales at the community centre. I would note that Nutrition is dropped following your first sentence though.
We are not the only country that can make great honey with a great flavour. The global market has a plethora of varietal choice, of varying flavour profiles, origin choice, quality and cost.
The reality is that you probably do not represent the global market as a demographic profile and the community centre would not be representative of the global market place. I am not sure of the honey competition your jars were up against on that given day but I would imagine it was limited.
The global production of honey is approximately 2 million tonnes. New Zealand does not produce 2% of this. The one unique honey we produce that has a broad consumer acceptance of delivering some form of benefit, leads global pricing and has continuous annual growth and demand.
There is no doubt that New Zealand could sell all the honey it can produce at a price. Unfortunately not every producer likes the price. The global consumer however has clearly indicated that they are prepared to pay more for a honey when the honey is perceived as more than just'sweet, stick, natural and tasty'
Of course NZ can sell on tase and variety, just don't expect a premium price over the other world producers selling on taste and variety.

 

[JohnF]

Great idea. I have heard this repeated for a few years now. Unless the science has proves some definitive health benefit then I do not see where the marketable value will come from.

The health benefits are difficult, very expensive and hugely time-consuming.

Why cant we, like cheese and coffee and tea and ... sell on taste and variety? I'd buy that.

And this is part of this science session - consumer and sensory science. How would you describe tawari honey? Rewarewa honey? What does it have a lot of, that gives it a unique taste? It comes back to informing the marketing message. To say our honey is tasty wont cut it in my opinion, since:

We are not the only country that can make great honey with a great flavour. The global market has a plethora of varietal choice, of varying flavour profiles, origin choice, quality and cost.

but

Of course NZ can sell on tase and variety, just don't expect a premium price over the other world producers selling on taste and variety.

We cant sell on taste and variety yet since we dont have a coordinated and established method - again, how do we lift these varieties out of commodity $4 per kilo. Indeed, *can* we?

 

[Scientia Sit Potentia]

The health benefits are difficult, very expensive and hugely time-consuming.


And this is part of this science session - consumer and sensory science. How would you describe tawari honey? Rewarewa honey? What does it have a lot of, that gives it a unique taste? It comes back to informing the marketing message. To say our honey is tasty wont cut it in my opinion, since:

but

We cant sell on taste and variety yet since we dont have a coordinated and established method - again, how do we lift these varieties out of commodity $4 per kilo. Indeed, *can* we?

In my opinion. No we can't. I can only think of a couple of examples of honey verities that sell above commodity and they are largely regional in appeal. I would put Sidr and Greek Thyme in this category. At a global level I can only think of Manuka that consistently maintains price and growth above market and commodity.

 

[John B]

There are lots of honeys throughout the world that command a very good premium, some because they are mono floral, some that are local , some that are seasonal and some just because they taste exceptional.

 

[Wknz]

e are not the only country that can make great honey with a great flavour. The global market has a plethora of varietal choice, of varying flavour profiles, origin choice, quality and cost

Correct. And that is true of cheese, wine, coffe, tea and whiskey. Yet all of these common items have established markets where people appreciate something unique about them.

When I buy an aged whiskey I am choosing out of hundreds of distilleries and an abundance of alternatives. I am prepared to pay 5 or 10 times the price of you basic jim beam to get what I like. Ditto coffee. And as for tea .. a common plant in many parts of the world (camelia) ... I am partial to regional varieties and will go out of my way to find them.

None of them are scientifically labeled for taste. Instead they are compared to fruits, smoke, sea salt, tarry rope and a world of other adjectives.

Wine is a good parallel. Every year the same area produces a different bouquet and I follow certain vintners for their skill in mixing and producing and for natures influence in the areas taste. Educate people about honey, influence how it's used to enhance lifestyle and people will buy.

 

[tommy dave]

Non Manuka is a commodity product.

Thank you for your posts through this thread.

If honey adulteration and/or producing a product entirely from feeding bees syrup was eliminated, do you think that would impact price?
Or, at least, do you think that honey clearly proven as unadulterated would have a value mark.up, or volumes of good/pure honey too high regardless?

I fear the answer to both might be no

 

[Scientia Sit Potentia]

There are lots of honeys throughout the world that command a very good premium, some because they are mono floral, some that are local , some that are seasonal and some just because they taste exceptional.

The average export/import per values per country would not indicate that. Therefore it can only be assumed that the volumes are to small to effect the averages.

 

[Scientia Sit Potentia]

Thank you for your posts through this thread.

If honey adulteration and/or producing a product entirely from feeding bees syrup was eliminated, do you think that would impact price?
Or, at least, do you think that honey clearly proven as unadulterated would have a value mark.up, or volumes of good/pure honey too high regardless?

I fear the answer to both might be no

Honey is assumed to be unadulterated by the consumer.

 

[Grant]

Honey is assumed to be unadulterated by the consumer.

In general it is unadulterated buy the consumer, unless they put it in a recipe or make a meade.

 

[Scientia Sit Potentia]

Correct. And that is true of cheese, wine, coffe, tea and whiskey. Yet all of these common items have established markets where people appreciate something unique about them.

When I buy an aged whiskey I am choosing out of hundreds of distilleries and an abundance of alternatives. I am prepared to pay 5 or 10 times the price of you basic jim beam to get what I like. Ditto coffee. And as for tea .. a common plant in many parts of the world (camelia) ... I am partial to regional varieties and will go out of my way to find them.

None of them are scientifically labeled for taste. Instead they are compared to fruits, smoke, sea salt, tarry rope and a world of other adjectives.

Wine is a good parallel. Every year the same area produces a different bouquet and I follow certain vintners for their skill in mixing and producing and for natures influence in the areas taste. Educate people about honey, influence how it's used to enhance lifestyle and people will buy.

As I said before, you are not reflective of the global demographic of the average honey consumer.

 

[Scientia Sit Potentia]

In general it is unadulterated buy the user, unless they put it in a recipe or make a meade.

Correction. The consumer assumes that honey is unadulterated.

 

[Bron]

Correction. The consumer assumes that honey is unadulterated.

There in lies the problem. How do we sell antibiotic free, unadulterated NZ honey?

 

[yesbut]

There in lies the problem. How do we sell antibiotic free, unadulterated NZ honey?

You don't. You give it away at $3.80kg

 

[Bron]

N

You don't. You give it away at $3.80kg

Nah! I’m a gonna stack shelves before I do that. Our farmer mates have great sympathy as their wool is as popular as our honey.

 

[tristan]

Our farmer mates have great sympathy as their wool is as popular as our honey.

funny that.
the older farmers know exactly what we are going through. same old same old.

 

[yesbut]

N

Nah! I’m a gonna stack shelves before I do that. Our farmer mates have great sympathy as their wool is as popular as our honey.

I have noticed woollen clothing getting progressively cheaper in the likes of the Redshed and Postie....where does China get it's wool I wonder ? (@Mummzie another thread for you to split)

 

[tommy dave]

There in lies the problem. How do we sell antibiotic free, unadulterated NZ honey?

exactly what I was aiming at whether there is any marketing value in these facts.
There might still be a point of difference, seems that a lot of the posts above are focused on that - but with a focus on things that might not be that different?
antibiotic free. Unadulterated. Traceable to source. They might be a point of difference, but only relevant if a consumer will pay a price premium for that.

 

[Mummzie]

(@Mummzie another thread for you to split)

have you forgotten how?

 

[yesbut]

have you forgotten how?

Too lazy

 

[Jamo]

The value should be the same as any other food value. Nutrition and taste. Manuka has changed the thinking on honey from food to medicine.. and that's plain wrong.

The people who have avoided amputations or had reduced scarring after burns or radiation treatment are probably quite grateful for its medical properties. There is a reason why manuka honey is world famous