The best years for Manuka Honey are still ahead. Here's why we're betting on it.
- Team Mānuka Orchard
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
If you've been anywhere near the mānuka honey industry over the past few years, you'll know it's been a ride. A boom, a glut, a price correction, and a lot of good people wondering whether it was worth staying in.
We understand that. We've lived it too.
But here's the thing: when you are involved across the whole chain the way we do - from dealing with those on the actual hives, through extraction, testing and storage, out to the buyers - you see things the headlines miss. And what we see doesn't look like an industry in decline. It looks like an industry about to reset in favour of the people who stuck around.
Demand for genuine New Zealand Manuka Honey is holding.
But supply is tightening and beekeeper numbers have fallen. So it's on the people still standing, who are the ones who'll shape what comes next.
That's why, for the past year, we've been building something. Three pieces of work, each aimed at a different part of the problem - securing supply, securing the market, and securing the capacity to handle both. We've now brought them together under one name: Project 2030.
We're not going to lay it all out here. Some of it is still being built, and honestly, the best version of this conversation happens in person. But we wanted to put the name out there, because you're going to hear a lot more about it from us.
Because “the future of mānuka” isn't a slogan for us. It's the thing we get up and build every day. And we think 2030 is going to look a lot better than most people expect.
The first proper look comes at our Open Day on Friday 24 July. We've invited voices from across honey production, kiwifruit & pollination services, science and government - especially people who have seen what coordinated, future-focused thinking can do for an industry - all to talk about where Manuka Honey goes from here.
Mānuka Orchard Open Day Friday 24 July 2026
8:00 AM | Registration & coffee in the sun |
9:00 AM | Open Day introduction from Logan Bowyer (Mānuka Orchard) |
9:30 AM | Rae Butler (Bee Smart Breeding) |
9:45 AM | Dr Pike Stahlmann-Brown (Bioeconomy Science Institute & Motu Economy and Public Policy Research) |
10:05 AM | Melissa Broussard (Bioeconomy Science Limited) |
10:25 AM | Denis Collins & Sharon Morrell (MPI) |
10:45 AM | Shane Max (Zespri) |
11:15 AM | Russell Smith (Beequip) |
11:30 AM | Megan Grainger (Honey Research Unit) |
11:45 AM | Golden Box Awards presented by Logan Bowyer |
12:00 PM | LUNCH & NETWORKING |
1:00 PM | BOP Beekeepers Meeting - Optional |
1:30 PM | Nick Taylor (NZBeesWax) |
1:45 PM | Honey and Bees New Zealand Introduction |
2:00 PM | Q & A |
2:30 PM | Keynote address, Logan Bowyer (Mānuka Orchard) |
3:30 PM to 5PM | Drinks in the Hall |
You can register for the Open Day by emailing Justine at justine@manukaorchard.com but be quick, space is limited.