Ethical beekeeping
We believe honey is best, thats why we leave 20+kg of honey on each hive, giving enough honey to sustain the bees through winter without mid-winter checks to feed supplements as is standard in many operations. They only need limited feeding in springtime during changeable weather.
We also don't overpopulate areas with bees as this often means not enough honey and pollen to go around leading to the feeding of less nutritious artificial substitutes. We believe the reduced use of artificial supplement greatly improves the health of our bees.
Packaging
We pack all honey options into glass however we do also use plastic for many of our products. This is due to weight and breakage issues.
We use rPET(1) for many of our products. Made from recycled plastic, also readily recyclable and BPA free. They're lightweight making them highly efficient to export/transport, they are also sturdy which limits breakage. Supplied by Pharmapac; Toitū Enviromark Diamond Certified.
Our Mānuka labels use Clarence paper facestock. This material is Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Chain of Custody certified, features 30% post-consumer waste and is Green Seal certified.
Bee HQ
We are replanting native and exotic trees on our parents’ farm and our HQ. These trees will sequester carbon as they grow, provide food for bees and native birds and be available for use in future beehive construction once they reach maturity. We also encourage our farmers to plant native trees on their land or allow marginal hilly land to revert to native bush.
All the water we use on site is rain water collected from our factory roof. This allows us to utilise fresh rainwater from the Manawatu.
