New Zealand Honey Popular Overseas

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31579, 17 January 1968, Page 5

New Zealand Honey Popular Overseas

“The Press” Special Service

AUCKLAND, January 16. New Zealand honey is becoming a prestige commodity overseas but, because New Zealanders eat so much of it, not much is left over for export. However, Londoners can buy special gift packs containing three jars of different flavours in high-class stores such as Harrods, and Fortnum and Mason. The New Zealand product is more than holding its own with romantic sounding honeys from the mountains of Greece or the plains of Argentina. Even the bees have been receiving homage from abroad. The general manager of the Honey Marketing Authority, Mr C. T. Gosse, last week opened an air letter sent from British Columbia. It said: “This Christmas We received a package of honey from New Zealand and we would like to congratulate

you, the beekeepers and the bees, for producing such excellent honey. “Here in the Okanagan, honey is produced for the local market and the flavour is not nearly as good as yours.” In the same mail, from the United States, was an order form for a five-pound gift tin. “We have been getting so many letters from people who have been sent tins or packs that we have developed a mail order scheme for the tins,” Mr Gosse said. “The letter writers tell us they have acquired a taste for our honey but can’t buy it in their shops. “When we send off the order we put a tourist brochure in with it to publicise New Zealand.” Toward the end of last year the authority had a letter from a businessman in New York who had been sent a gift pack from a New Zealander. The quote was satisfactory and the order promptly sent.

Honey from New Zealand displayed at a food fair in Cologne last November has resulted in two trial orders of three tons each by Germany and Switzerland. New Zealand honey was formerly sent to Britain in bulk and, because of its high quality, was often blended with inferior honeys to give them more flavour. Now the special packs with jars, each containing a honey from a different floral source, have given the product an overdue identity. The idea of the special packs came from Mr Gosse after seeing a full-page advertisement on honeys of the world in the “New York Times.” Ten Types “They all had individual names such as Royal Deeside Heather from Scotland and Bohemian Linden from Czechoslovakia while New Zealand’s was just Imperial Bee.” Mr Gosse said. The ten types that now go

into the gift packs in different combinations of three are: Rata, Rewarewa. Pohutukawa, Manuka, Lotus (from species of Trefoil), White Clover, Buttercup, Niue Island, Kamahi and Tawari. The new individuality is helping the authority to achieve its aim of international distribution and a premium gourmet-type of trade. New Zealanders are so keen about their honey that they eat their way through most of It Of the 6000 tons produced a year, they consume about 5000 tons. The 1000 tons that is exported fetches about £150,000. Statistics for two five-year periods show that New Zealanders are well ahead of the rest of the world as honeyeaters. K Nothing can be done about increasing exports unless New Zealanders decide to reduce their honey consumption.