Mānuka Honey, Why Is It So Expensive And Is It Worth It? 

I00% agree with you. I appreciate your hard work on researching on this topic.

Hi I'm a New Zealander as a youth I helped my uncle a bee keeper Now Manuka honey is very dark it's own distinct appearance and has strong flavor. I think the UMF test is the most reliable. But it's cost is high. I take 3 times a day large teaspoon using untested Manuka Flora blend. Works fine especially in winter season. Definitely clears my throat and restores my breathing. Taking every day without fail.

You made some excellent key points. Thanks for sharing your feedback.

Most insightful video I've seen about honey in general.. good job

I wanted to leave because I had to work but I you kept so well my attention with your information that I continue till the end(: now I have a broad vision about this topics thanks to you! Thanks

A very simple logical and necessary topic that should be applauded, thank you for this meaningful video which will make many buyers of manuka honey aware when buying it

Great video yet again 👍🏻

10 out of 10 for usefulness if information! Bonus points for the accent :D what a cool dude!

Yes. Worth the cost. Positive medicinal healing value - no side effects. Can apply topically to a wound or consume. Consuming causes no sugar spike, no jitter I news - and will not get you drunk. Am elderly living on social security payments alone however, I frequently purchase Manuka.

Would be interesting if you could do a video on Yemeni Sidr honey... its always Manuka and Sidr from Yemen that are always talked about being the best and healthiest... Great vids..

Just found your series and they are great! I have always thought it best to have honey from a local honey producer, especially if a hayfever sufferer, so Pembrokeshire honey is my Manuka!

Thanks! Appreciate it. Trying for find out more about honey for skin conditions, have you done a video on that? I'm happy to buy local.

Nice Video Gruff 👏

Great review👏

Excellent stuff great work

I got into beekeeping due to manuka honey. I had stage 4 diabetic foot ulcers for nearly 2yrs and within 3 months of the nurses starting the manuka honey treatment they had healed so to thank the bees I decided to get a hive and do my little bit for the honey bee. Into my first full season this year. It’s all about the 🐝🐝🐝

Really hit the nail on the head with mentioning how it's being "diluted". We recently got some and it wasn't cheap. Took a closer look at the label and it claims to be a "blend" but no mention at all of how much is present! Also no markings to reach out to the company directly, and two different brand names present. It makes perfect sense to me that many companies would buy some at the premium and then blend it at a massive markup. This is making a lot more sense to me now. I've been really curious about this because of how confusing those numbers are as well! Edit: I found the company, it's called Biohoney and I reached out to them and sent an email asking if they knew how much was present in my product. Included the batch number and UPC for reference. I stress reading your labels carefully if you plan to actually buy some manuka honey, as it seems incredibly easy to ride the market hype

Great video and I agree with your view!!!

Well listening to all that you have told me Gwenyn I'll be looking in here for any more findings before I consider purchasing some more Doctor Manuka MGO 70 from Holland and Barret again. I have only last week purchased two jars from there and, I don't know if mine is 100% Manuka honey but my hip and groin pain ( due to my Osteoarthritis), seems to have lessened., it might have been my hopeful imaginings, but now I'm in a debatable mind after watching your video.

Great point as how can you sell more than what was produced!!!! Great insight!!!! Thanks!

Well done! Agree of course. Memories of my short time in Wales (Bridgend). All the best from Ottawa - most of my honey is Linden from the wild forests. 100% pure!

you made me think MANUKA HONEY again. thank for wonderful explanation, Like your presentation way

I will kindly disagree. Manuka honey can be placed on your toast and also even eaten in a spoonful. It does have a slight medicinal taste but it is delicious.

Thank you very much for this information

Right now I am using Manuka honey from Australia on my elderly mom's sore on her left foot, and her foot doctor is very happy with the result.

So true and thank you!

I bought our first manuka honey a few weeks ago. Like the taste but at $31 (USD) for 12oz kFactor 16 it’s a little hard to take and will be first on chopping block in this economy. The points in this video are well taken and must be addressed or once the fad passes…and it will…or science (unless Faucki is involved) provides some facts, it will crash. I’m reminded of the olive oil industry… Ps. Subscribed

Gwenyn, top man! As an ex Cardiff resident (‘91-‘92) you brought back flashes of my wonderful 12 months in your land! To the point, I live in Mozambique, we are starting a certification process for organic honey here, end game is to export to the European and US markets. We are also looking into the possibility of starting a manuka tree plantation. Any thoughts?

Spot on

I am a NZ hobby beekeeper, my opinion is its just great marketing aimed at the SE Asia market. Compare it with A2 milk, same story. Is it any better, what are the benefits ? But there's a market out there prepared to pay a huge premium for some "possible" benefit and the clean green NZ image (which doesn't stand up to closer inspection, pollution of waterways, nitrate leaching into ground water etc). Read "Interviews with Beekeepers" by Steve Donohue and his interview with Peter Bray of New Zealand who owns Airborne Honey one of our largest Honey bulk buyers, packers, shipping and marketing. Their is skepticism even here, but when your making the very big $'s don't let anyone rock the boat !

Superb explanation of Manuka honey Gweyn,very interesting .Just a question regarding type two diabetes, can you eat Manuka,or for that matter,any honey if you have that diabetes. Keep up the good work.

Bang on insightful vlog - maybe BBC Panorama should take this up.. If someone was passing horse meat off as beef the media would be all over it in an instant - and yet the Manuka honey issue is on a much larger scale and happing in plain sight.

Manuka honey took its notes from French Champagne. So as Moroccan argan oil, Marayur Jaggery and many others to follow. Thanks to French!

Lechyd Da Hope you and your family have a happy and prosperous new year and the bees of course. Have you ever tried Tea Trea Mead? I just heard you say they are only in flower for 10 days. Ours flower for about a month or more. Could be we have much better growing conditions. The blossom is awesome when the tree decides to release its scent. We have developed our own variety and have one that has not yet flowered from seed that we think is going to be awesome. Being a cross between two different types from two different regions.

Spot on Taff

I have often wondered why Manuka honey is discounted so much, sometimes as much as 75%. Thank you for making me rethink my buying of honey for medicinal purposes.

I just bought a $50 jar of manuka honey. Probably 6 or 8 oz jar. It’s not the highest rated I saw on eBay available but I just didn’t want to spend several hundred dollars on a jar of honey when the $50 one was very high rated. I’m shocked how many people say it helps with sore throats, colds, and irritable stomach issues. I drink hot tea nearly every day so I just plan on substituting the sugar for manuka honey. I know my honey I bought is definitely from New Zealand and gives ratings on quality.

i totally agreed wht you well said 👍 It’s so RARE that even Lidl selling it 😀 i learned many from different honey, and if u want something special for ya health, get some properly done creamed honey with propolis or perga , then u feel the power 👌

Can you make a video on reviewing the Authentic Yemeni Sidar or Sidr honey. It is very rare and sold very expensive, with recent war in Yemen it has been difficult to source.

New to your vlog Gwenyn,very very interesting you on about Mahuka honey,it sounds very misleading,and I fully 100% believe you,we went in a health shop and bought some very expensive,I wished we had read the label on it ,to see what it says but not got it anymore,we just starting out bee keeping in Staffordshire,fingers crossed,we waiting on our 2 colonies,brilliant vlog .👍

This video could have been titled : "Filthy lucre from Manuka" !!! I'm looking forward to your logical extension to this series - Spring Welsh Lamb vs New Zealand (is it frozen ?) lamb - the taste off !!! I'm off to find out more about the Tea Tree plant (Leptospermum Scoparium). Part of the Myrtaceae family and the equally exotic bottle brush tree. On the basis of the dilution rates (I too have found the labelling bewildering) I would imagine a single bush brought out of the conservatory in the spring would confer similar mystical properties !!! By the way - what the thing in your pocket ? Pager, radio ???

When it came out was expensive but now it's gotten ridiculous I seen it advertised for 5000 , I'm not willing to pay more than 60 bucks , yes it's good honey helped me a lot ,

I have 4 hives on Anglesey and I thought my honey tasted beautiful - then I tried pure Bell Heather honey from bee's collecting off the Snowdonia Range Mountain Slopes - oh my goodness, that heather honey is to another level! Such a pity we don't realise how good our UK honey is. I've no doubt that it's just as good as this blended Manuka stuff , the only difference is probably the taste and for our Heather honey, it will be superior to competitors!

Great video. Manuka as you buy it in the shop is unlikely to be 100%. People in the UK should support their local beekeepers and buy local. Supermarket honey is often cheap honey adulterated with honey from unknown sources and worse still possibly adulterated with sugar syrup.

That is why everybody should buy honey from a local source. None of the honey is better than the other. Yes, they can differ in taste, but I would buy 100 times from a local source than once from a health shop. A simple blossom honey from around my own town wins, hands down. And 100% non-diluted (well, if your local beekeeper is trustworthy of course. But why shouldn't he?)

The other thing that bothers me is....they let the bees go where the Manuka tree grows but there must be other plants that are also in flower, how do you tell the bee what plant to land on? What happens if a Bee comes back to the hive loaded with Honey from a daffodil? are the other bees standing guard to stop the daffodil from entering the Hive?

Ozark Wildflower honey is being studied, as it has been found to have the same if not better properties as Manuka.

Yes and No, honestly depends from what people is after, those who are after Raw Manuka for medicinal purpose, in comparison what we get in supermarket at Coles such as heated highly refined honey, lost most of vital nutrients though. There are other honeys as well as raw ulfiltered honey from farmers market which is also good though long as it is not heated and refined.

Great discussion 👍. You make a lot of great points and I agree with you 100% . But... My wife loves it and swears by the Manuka honey that she buys at Costco here in America. LOL I don't try to argue with her she uses it sparingly so I just pay the bill. LOL Happy wife happy life. I think that applies just about anywhere you live. thank you 👍

Great video . I totally agree . You should get some angry responses . But let's see if they can give documented answers .

I've a feeling I'm going to really enjoy this video - but first i'm going to make a fresh brew, spread a dollop of my bees finest on some toast and settle down for the show heehee

sorry for the late post hope you see this..but i was born and lived in Nz until 30+ years and now live in Australia both have Manuka honey but i stil pay $50 yes only $50 australia dollors (27 uk pounds) for a New Zealand brand of manuka honey (i hate the tase that comes from Aus honey compared to the NZ honey) and the company that makes it has it labeld as 100% pure New Zealand honey (i know it is as it is a New Zealand company and has New Zealand and Austraila strick rules for lables on food items), but also states on it that Manuka MGO 70+, also has a Certified Monofloral manuka honey badge marked on it (it does not state the UMF level which is almost UMF 5). I have yet to find any other honey from diferent countrys that taste as good as NZ honey ..but that could be just becuase i grew up on it and it reminds me of home. Ps as far as i know all New Zealand bee farms a free roam bee farms so they collect and make honey from other NZ flora which is why you can never get 100% pure maunka honey levels, but if you get 100% NZ pure honey with high levles of MGO then it should be good. (but if you can get any local honey with MGO 30+ for 1/3 price buy that and just have 2x times the amount. yes support your local beekeepers as NZ ships bees over seas to other countrys currently to help resotck there dwindling bee numbers). but it will cost me $80+ about $20 shipping (again total $100 Austraila dollors = about 53 pounds total) to get the best Quality UMF 15+ which is equal to MGO of 500+ here is a NZ website that has the UMF and MGO difference and info on its page it is very informitive. newzealandhoneyco.com/pages/mgo-vs-umf-calculator-manuka-honey

I agree with everything you have said . Manuka honey probably in most cases not value for money.

I'm an organic Beekeeper in New Zealand This video is very accurate, but new zealand's dis 30,000 tons not 1,200 tons cos we do 1,500 tons year

If you have any doubts; kno this--> 🍯🐝 🐝 🍯 The real stuff is SO effective that (if you’re using it to treat something medicinally) you’ll definitely KNOW if it’s quality or not. ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Manuka honey in New Zealand is made by bees that source nectar from the plant variety called Leptospermum scoparium. In New Zealand, there is only one Leptospermum species, while Australia has 85 of the 87 known Leptospermum species. This means Australian beekeepers can produce Manuka honey with the same, and in some cases stronger, antibacterial activity levels as New Zealand Manuka. In both Australian and New Zealand, the antibacterial activity of honey is attributed to the MGO content. Recent scientific studies have shown Australian active Manuka honey can contain concentrations of MGO that are even higher than New Zealand Manuka honey.

I bought a jar of Minooka honey and paid $18 for 8 ounces. I did taste tests with 15 people comparing honey from my yard to Manoka 12 of the 15 people liked my honey better but everybody said the Manoka was very good. When I told them how much it cost and what they pay that much they said no.

When you get down to it, how do you know what type of flowers the bees are visiting, we know that they dont just pollinate one particular plant at a time, so is clover honey realy clover or does it have some dandelion or perhaps a little wild garlic etc

Manuka honey helped my dry eye syndrome. I had been using drops 3x daily. Since I learned about this honey if I skip a day I feel mo discomfort and I can use the eye drops once a day.

Very good marketing department I'd say.

You just have to research which companies are the best, reputable companies. There’s a top 10 list. I swear by this stuff it’s borderline miraculous the injuries I’ve used it on.

Off topic: I've always wondered what the difference between the UK accents are, I can distinguish between English, Scottish and Irish as I hardly hear or know of the Welsh one....now I can hear it. PS: You're a bee farmer right not a beef ham as what the [CC] translated it to.

Well said as a beekeeper in England I agree with what you say there is a lot of adulterated honey out there on the market so thanks for the video.

Thank u 😍

Interesting Manuka Honey marketing is like Pink Himalayan Salt. On the same topic viewers might be interested in searching YT for "honey laundering" -- I'd suggest adding these keywords to this video if not already using -- Cheers

Here in NZ beekeepers put GPS trackers on their hive to try to catch hive thieves

I would like to someday collect all the rare and fine Honeys for my own personal collection.

Carhartt's - supposed to be super tough - maybe a review on the dungaree's down the line?

Australia also produces Manukau honey one location is Byron Bay.

Thanks, what about all the low MGO rating jars like 70 etc? they all add up in overall weight sold so perhaps there is some credibility in the higher ratings? then there's monofloral and multifloral.

Do your research and buy from reputable companies. Comvita, Steens Honey, Manuka Health are some of these. I work processing Manuka honey and its a raw unpasteurized variety. Heating above 60°c degrades the microbial content

Yemeni honey is similar to Manuka honey regarding pricing, but not on availability.

As much as I hate gov regulation, there needs to be some regulation of manuka. I enjoy it, and I buy a lower MGO of 50+, but have no idea how much if any is real. Sad thing is it will drive prices even higher.

Well 40$ will get you a pretty decent manuka honey. Not UMF rated but i think it's pure enough since it tastes so much more different than regular honey.

So I'm gonna disagree about the labeling. MGO rating is actually the best way to know how much Manuka honey is in a blend because MGO only comes from the Manuka plant, so the higher this is, the better!

Hi 😊 can I ask where you buy your overalls from ?

According to news, the most expensive honey is produced/sold Kantaron Honey in Turkey. Also Anzer Honey is expensive Turkish honey🙄

"I don't know what that means either" LOL! At least your honest, shit is funny bro. I love Manuka honey

Seems to me there no point having a protected term if the honey isn't 100% that protected term. The protective status should be removed and outlawed until they get their act together . Consumers are being conned and ripped off which can not be allowed ro happen under consumer protection laws.

Excellent overview. I for one will never support that kind of scam

Ixve heard by security guards that a lot of people steal manuka honey jars in the stores. So, they are actually stealing the scammers but the store is the one paying for it. It's so sad

looking for pure honey made in the UK or made by someone i can trust not to rip me off. i dont want it to be heat treated etc and just want all the goodness. im sick housebound with a multitude of health issues and suffering. have stomach issues as well and on max morphine etc. from Scotland in Fife and ofcourse want to support local but il take what i can get for now. hope u can help thanks :)

Great video , I admit I'm a sucker for false advertising. Thanks for your help. Please send me information on your products. The best advice I could give, would be find a local bee farmer and request the honey at the bottom of the vat. Again please forward me all information on your products , thank you so very much

Some Australian native shrubs and trees appear to have a much higher content of the active chemicals that manuka honey is famous for, I would suggest that you have a look at Jarra honey and karri honey for instance, even it seems that the Australian Tea trees are higher in the junk, at this point you will notice a distinct lack of comment from the Kiwis lol.

Oh, and why does it sell for £1500 a jar in Chelsea? Because they are stupid enough to pay it. I have seen bars of chocolate for sale there for £175 for 150g. These are the type of people who pay £1000 a kilo for coffee beans, just because some civet has shat it out.

The most expensive honey is Turkish honey $50.000 per kilo check it out

I don't know how burning hives makes you money, but it's such a crime to do that.

I am using Centauri Honey from Turkey

Sider Yemeni Honey is the Best Honey in the World. Just try it and see the difference. There is absolutely no COMPARISON.

What is to stop a NZ bee farmer buying in bulk Tea Tree honey from somewhere else and then selling it as Manuka honey?

Its worth it because it makes mine worth more.

👍

UMF goes on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the most amount of Minooka… I know that’s not spelled right but I’m using voice dictation and I’m too lazy to fix it

Same with everything we buy from supermarkets. Legally fooling genuine people. It dissent have to be so easy to fool us. Only the facts should go onto the products

Thanks, in short buy local, support you local farmer and enjoy the best quality. Why to order something that came 10,000 miles away from unknown source when you can get awesome product from you local bee farmer.

Manuka is marketed as "active" +10, +15 + 20 + 30 ect . The higher the Active + number the more expensive it usually is. Perhaps Active +100 is totally pure 100% and all the other lower numbers are a ratio of Manuka to the base blend honey. This would explain the 1700 tonnes produced v the 10,000+ Tonnes sold because the pure honey is being diluted on average 6 times (16% Manuka) some are more diluted and some are less. For example Active + 15 is more than 6 times diluted.

Mate I’ve literally never seen manuka going for 1500 quid. The highest quality from the supermarkets at 500mgo goes for no more than 20 quid!

That is goals to get sucker addicted to products for life

Ivy honey can't be bet

No money, no honey?