Somersby (Australia) (AFP)
Can the precious manuka honey, with the Maori name, come from a country other than New Zealand?
The answer is no for some of New Zealand's beekeepers, the world's leading producers of this highly prized product.
But their Australian competitors do not hear it that way.
Ana Martin and Sven Stephan bought land last year in Somersby, about 100 kilometers north of Sydney, to set up around 50 beehives on the hillside.
It is planted with Leptospermum scoparium, a shrub whose flowers are foraged by bees, giving this famous manuka honey.
"Being a beekeeper is a job that occupies you seven days a week. And the benefits are very limited. With manuka, on the other hand, the margins are much greater," Ana Martin told AFP.
The beekeeping couple, who operate some 300 beehives spread over 400 km along the NSW coast, market their honey directly to markets and, increasingly, via the Internet.
At the end of this first season in Somersby, the couple collected 2.5 tons of manuka honey, says the beekeeper.
Lauded by celebrities such as actress Gwyneth Paltrow and tennis player Novak Djokovic for its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties, this dark-colored honey can sell for several hundred dollars per kilo.
- Flight -
The Covid-19 pandemic has exploded demand, propelling New Zealand honey exports to an all-time high in 2019/20, mainly thanks to manuka honey (76% of those exports).
A surge that has also benefited Australian beekeepers, who also produce, in smaller quantities, this precious substance.
The Leptospermum scoparium shrub, found in New Zealand, is also endemic to Australia.
But the development of this honey in Australia could be cut short.
A group of New Zealand beekeepers has launched several appeals, notably in China, the United States and the European Union, to register the term manuka and obtain its exclusive use.
"Manuka is a Maori term. In the mind of the consumer, it is a New Zealand certificate of origin," said John Rawcliffe, spokesperson for the Unique Manuka Factor Association.
"In addition Australian beekeepers call + manuka + all varieties of Australian Leptospermum (over 80). This is misleading and it does not correspond to the product sold. It is as if we decided to call + lemons + all types of citrus fruit to get a higher price, ”he argues.
Claims swept aside by Paul Callander, president of the Australian Manuka Honey Association.
“The chemical composition of our honey is the same as that of New Zealand honey,” he says.
In addition, there is "evidence that Australia has been producing manuka honey since at least the 1840s," he adds.
In fact, the common name of the shrub foraged to give this honey is also manuka in Tasmania and in the State of Victoria (south-eastern Australia).
- Counterfeits -
Another cause for concern on the Australian side, the legal steps taken by New Zealand beekeepers are financially supported by the government of this country.
The Australians, who have decided to appeal these appeals to British and New Zealand justice, are defending themselves.
"We will never give up using the term manuka. It would take years to familiarize consumers with a new term, and it would cost us millions of dollars," says Paul Callander.
Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan recently proposed to his New Zealand counterpart to organize a "trans-Tasman summit" for the two countries to cooperate rather than oppose.
For his part, John Rawcliffe is not against it but the question of the use of the term manuka is not negotiable in his eyes.
A position deplored by Ana Martin and Sven Stephan.
“We can all make more money if we stand up together and develop a common certification process. Currently, there is ten times more manuka honey sold in the world than it is produced! What is more, the Americans have also recently started producing manuka honey. This is where the real threat lies, "warns the beekeeper.
Not all New Zealand beekeepers defend this approach to obtain a designation of origin.
Comvita, the largest honey producer in the country, has been associated since 2016 with the Australian Capilano, to jointly produce and market manuka honey… in Australia.
Still, for New Zealand, the stakes are considerable.
Despite volumes ten times smaller than those exported by China, in 2020 New Zealand became the world's leading exporter of honey by value, with cumulative sales estimated at 251 million euros.
© 2021 AFP