Global gold standards
Haddrell's dedication to creating industry standards led us to help set up the UMF™ Honey Association. The UMF™ quality mark guarantees authentic, monofloral mānuka honey from New Zealand.
What is UMFTM ?
What is UMF™
What is UMF™
UMF™ means Unique Mānuka Factor. It is an official quality assurance system that independently certifies every batch of honey. The higher the UMF™ number, the higher the presence of mānuka honey’s signature biomarkers.
The UMF™ quality mark guarantees authentic, monofloral mānuka honey from 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.
Origins of UMFTM
The origins of the UMF™ grading system.
UMF™ grading system
The origins of the UMF™ grading system.
When the world started to demand New Zealand mānuka honey in the early 1990s, a means of measuring the properties or "mānuka-ness" was required to give quality assurance. Haddrell's dedication to industry standards led us to help set up grading standards and encourage unification across beekeepers leading to the founding of the UMF™ Honey Association.
Today the UMF™ Honey Association limits the use of its assurance system and logo to its licensees. Haddrell’s licence number is 1027. For more information visit www.umf.org.nz
UMFTM vs MGO
UMF™ vs MGO
UMF™ vs MGO
MGO stands for Methylglyoxal, just one of the four markers tested in the UMF™ quality assurance system. The UMF™ system gives more assurance the mānuka honey is genuine, because it carries out multiple tests. The MGO system tests one biomarker, and therefore just a single assurance.
What do UMF™ Tests mean for me?
There are four tests to satisfy the strict quality assurance system of the UMF™ Honey Association, these are then summarised in ONE UMF™ figure, e.g. UMF™ 10+. Carried out in independent labs, the results prove the honey's true quality and the concentration of mānuka's unique compounds. Specifically, the test results guarantee the honey's authenticity, potency, shelf life, and freshness.
Methylglyoxal, to give it its full name, is the source of golden mānuka honey’s special antibacterial properties and an important potency measure. The higher the MGO, the stronger the concentration of MGO. The UMF™ guarantee means that you can be sure that Mānuka honey bearing the UMF™ mark contains the special activity.
Leptosperin is a compound found only in mānuka flower nectar and can only be created by nature. Measuring this unique component ensures the authenticity of mānuka honey. Laboratory research also shows leptosperin content has anti-inflammatory properties that grows as the UMF™ scale increases.
Dihydroxyacetone (as it’s known to us) is slowly converted to MGO in healthy living honey. The higher the DHA content, the longer the life of the MGO content in your mānuka honey – which is why the best mānuka honey must have more than 70 mg/kg DHA to be UMF™ certified.
We test for hydroxymethylfurfural, since this long-named compound assures honey has not been overheated or stored too long, and is in the best condition to maintain the unique blend of living properties in mānuka honey as promised by your favourite supplier.
How can I trust my mānuka honey is really genuine?
UMF™ quality assurance only applies to honey packed in New Zealand. Honey can’t be imported to New Zealand. Therefore, any mānuka honey you buy that is packed in New Zealand has come from New Zealand.
Haddrell's mānuka honey passes nine independent lab tests:
Four tests to satisfy the quality assurance system of the UMF™ Honey Association. Five tests for the New Zealand government’s Ministry of Primary Industries' export requirements.
Certifications are issued using strict quality guidelines. Only mānuka honey that satisfies these nine test requirements can be exported and carry the UMF™ quality mark.
Hive to Pot
Bees form an amazing team. The queen, worker bees and drones all know their jobs and together they populate, protect and maintain the hive, collect the nectar from flowers and make and preserve the honey. All this work is done with enormous energy and sheer dedication to their tasks. We have great respect for our bees and their life's hard work. Our team takes care them at every step of the journey from hive to pot.