Yes, all Haddrell’s honey is certified Halal by the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand.

Honey does not contain gluten or nuts and we have we have strict controls in place to minimize the risk of allergen contamination during processing and packing. However, we do not regularly test our honey for the presence of gluten or nuts.

Infants under one year of age cannot eat honey. Otherwise mānuka honey is deemed safe for all children over one year who do not have any medical conditions or allergies that prevent them from eating honey.

Factors to consider when an individual makes the decision to eat honey when pregnant include the honey’s level of natural sugars, pasteurisation and potential allergies. It's always a good idea to consult with your healthcare provider for personalised advice.

Our honey is from our hives placed in remote areas in New Zealand’s mānuka forests. It is not
officially classified as being organic.

Trusted brand, packed in New Zealand, UMF™ certified

Honey is sweeter than white sugar, so less honey is likely needed than sugar to get the same sweetness. However, the sweetness of the honey does depend on the type so we recommend you trial using different amounts of honey to replace sugar in your application.

Although mānuka honey has unique properties, it is still a source of natural sugars. Therefore it is recommended to be eaten in moderation and as part of a balanced diet.

Honey is a source of natural sugars. It is generally recommended that sugars are consumed in moderation as long as the person does not have any medical conditions that do not tolerate any sugar consumption at all. Warning: Infants under 12 months should not eat honey.

Too much heat can affect the ratio between the two natural biomarkers, DHA to MGO. Therefore, we recommend that mānuka honey is stored between 18°C and 22°C.

Baking with mānuka honey is certainly feasible and it adds natural sweetness and flavour. Depending on your budget, we advise using a lower UMF™ value.

Mānuka honey is often eaten as a snack - by the spoonful or in our Snap Packs. It's also a popular addition to hot drinks and is used as a natural sweetener, instead of sugar. Mānuka honey also adds sweetness and flavour to breakfast dishes -spread it on toast, mix into smoothies, stir into porridge, or add to breakfast cereals. And, when required, manuka honey is great for cooking and baking.

Storage conditions will depend on the local climate. We recommend keeping it out of direct sunlight and at a temperature of between 18°C and 22°C.

Over time honey does not deteriorate enough to pose a food safety risk. The shelf life of our mānuka honey is determined by the duration of the validity of the UMF™ value.

Glass is heavier than plastic and can have more food safety risks. Our honey is exported worldwide and packed in BPA-free PET pots, it is lighter transport and therefore requires less resources.

No, we don’t add sugar to our honey. It is 100% natural.

Bees collect the nectar from the mānuka flowers to create honey. Mānuka flowers only bloom for approximately 2-6 weeks in December every year, giving the bees a very short time period to collect the nectar.

Beehives are placed in remote regions to get the best mānuka honey. This demands a high level of resources all year round to care for the bees, protect the hives and harvest the honey within this short timeframe. Sometimes access to these remote regions is made more difficult by weather events.

Honey cannot be imported to New Zealand. Haddrell’s specialises in UMF™ mānuka honey. The UMF™ quality mark guarantees authentic, monofloral mānuka honey and is unique to New Zealand. It is the most comprehensive, independently certified and internationally recognised quality assurance system for New Zealand mānuka honey. It’s designed to validate mānuka honey’s potency, authenticity, purity, and freshness for honey producers, brands, customers and consumers around the world.

Honey has been eaten by humans for thousands of years. It is a natural sweetener and is a source of the naturally occurring sugars: glucose, fructose and other complex sugars.

Various factors affect the honey’s colour, including the region, season, climate and the ratio of naturally occurring sugars.

Honey colour from a single floral type can vary due to the different soils the plants grow in. Some regions produce darker honey, some lighter for the same floral type.

The course of the seasons and climate also plays a part. A honey’s colour, texture (hardness/smoothness) and indeed taste can vary from region to region and season to season. The ratios of the various naturally occurring sugars present in honey (fructose, glucose) influence honey’s colour and texture when crystallised (i.e. creamed). Glucose crystals are white so if there is a higher content of glucose the honey may be tinted lighter.

Creamed honey is also known as crystallised honey. Liquid honey is converted into creamed honey through a controlled crystallisation process; we add starter crystals and churn the honey for several hours. At the end of the process all the honey has even crystallisation and is classified as creamed honey.

What is pasteurisation?
It is generally accepted that pasteurisation requires heating a product to a minimum of 63°C for a minimum of 30 minutes or to 71°C (or 160°F) for 15-20 seconds.

Is your honey pasteurised?

Haddrell's Mānuka Honey is creamed honey and is not pasteurised.

Haddrell’s Mānuka Honey:

Our mānuka honey is minimally processed which involves minimal heating to 60-65°C for approx. two minutes to fully liquify any crystals and enable easy straining to remove impurities like bee parts, followed by cooling to 15°C and creaming. Mānuka honey crystallises readily. Without the creaming process it would form coarse irregular crystals so we control the crystallisation process to form microcrystals only to give it that smooth creamy texture.

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Honey has naturally occurring sugars: fructose, glucose and a number of complex sugars. Their ratio influences its texture. It is the glucose that crystallises, the fructose remains soluble. The more glucose in a batch of creamed honey, the greater its influence on the consistency of the honey.