Taranaki honey maker Naki Mānuka Honey has introduced what it claims to be the most expensive honey in the world, priced at $500,000.
The honey producer revealed its Eternal Gold collection this week at the New Zealand Liberation Museum – Te Arawhata in Le Quesnoy, northern France.
The collection features a unique 2-litre Eternal Gold ceramic vessel, along with six vessels priced at $10,000 each and 66 smaller vessels costing $1,000 each.
The honey boasts a unique manuka factor rating of 25+, indicating its exceptional potency, authenticity, freshness, and purity, among the highest globally.
“The honey is still intact, you know; it hadn’t perished, and I thought that was quite astounding,” general manager for sales and marketing Derek Burchell-Burger said.
Burchell-Burger expressed hope that customers will view these pieces as investment heirlooms to be handed down through generations.
“We’re very privileged in New Zealand because that’s where mānuka comes from, so it’s all over the shelf, but in many of the other countries that you go to including, I just mentioned Dubai, It’s highly sought after but very hard to get. And usually what I’ve discovered is they’re looking for like the best, they’re looking for the top grade.”
“They are keeping it on display in their pantry, and when they’re having their friends over for breakfast or a dinner party sometimes, you know, the teaspoon of mānuka comes out; it’s almost like opening a bottle of champagne. So I think it’s going to be very well received from the markets that already have a good sort of mānuka clientele.”
Burchell-Burger believes investors from the United Arab Emirates, France, and Germany will show strong interest in purchasing the product.
Amanda Martin, regional director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, believes that New Zealand is well placed to capitalise on growth in the European luxury market due to its strong reputation for quality.
“Here across Europe with a number of New Zealand companies, we’re really helping them think about how they position themselves, particularly if they are targeting this higher end of the market.
“It’s good to think about that provenance of New Zealand and what really differentiates us here in the market.
“Those things are our own authenticity, our sustainability and that premium quality and craftsmanship that is in high demand from the European consumer.”