Not to worry.
Treat it as an opportunity.
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Hope things don't get too sticky further down the track ;)
when others are saying things are "sticky" and stockpiles abound - I know where I would
be looking for an informed sounding board ;)
Nothing new about stockpiles.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114...turated-market
There has been plenty of sub-standard manuka honey around since the certification process kicked in. I personally know a couple of beehive keepers who were doing very well until the UMF certification kicked in. Their multi flora manuka honey used to fetch top prices but now, sell for less than half of what they used to get.
In contrast, the price of mono flora high umf manuka honey has soared.
Comvita is one of the beneficiaries of the certification process, weeding out the fly by nighters and substandard manuka honey.
[QUOTE
Comvita is one of the beneficiaries of the certification process, weeding out the fly by nighters and substandard manuka honey.[/QUOTE]
To me that hits the nail on the head. Comvita are the largest manuka growers in the country, either directly or leased which gives them a much higher chance of high yielding crops. The certification process is a game changer for Comvita. Over time the smaller players will find the costs outweighs the rewards.
We were offered drums of manuka honey 5 years ago for investment by a Gisborne honey group. The idea was that their prices would keep on increasing, such was the trajectory of manuka honey prices at that time, and the UMF would increase over time as well.
We decided against the investment mainly because we had no ability to sell the honey to anyone else save the Gisborne group.
Luckily we did! A shipment of their manuka honey ( beautifully packaged) was stuck in Germany after the Germans tested the UMF and found it to be substantially less than what was labelled!!!! Last I heard they had to get the honey relabelled at huge costs and they lost money.
We also found out that heating the honey could increase the umf for a short period.
Such was the state of the industry 5 years ago.
The money is in Manuka and the certification process controls the quality when exported which is great. So I’m thinking the smaller players will find it harder to comply with the standards and leave the export market. There is still an issue in NZ with non complying manuka being sold in deceptive ways. You only need to go to your local market and see unlabeled jars, or honey being sold as manuka when it would not meet the standard. It needs to be sorted.
The high double digit growth? What's that mean?