New honey industry organisation proposal open for industry feedback
Apiculture New Zealand and the Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA) have shared plans with their members on a proposal to form a new industry body.
This new organisation will be better placed to provide a stronger collective voice for the honey industry’s commercial beekeepers and exporters.
The decision to unite ApiNZ and UMFHA’s (often complementary) activities in one entity follows a key recommendation made in the NZ Honey Strategy published in February. This recommendation called for an empowered organisation that could speak and act for everyone involved in the New Zealand apiculture supply chain.
“This is a tangible step in creating a stronger platform and mandate to deliver key parts of the Strategy, including how we build a more sustainable funding model,” says Nathan Guy, Independent Chair of Apiculture New Zealand.
UMFHA Chair Rob Chemaly says that in the last 20 years annual honey exports have grown from $23m to $412m.
“To maintain a world class export and producer base we have to keep on evolving to ensure that the quality standards are world class and enforceable to support industry prosperity,” he says.
The new organisation, with its working title—The New Zealand Honey Association—will adopt all the functions of an industry peak body, including advocacy, sharing information, investing in activities that will enable sustainable growth and enhancing the reputation of the honey industry and its contributions to New Zealand.
As a first step ApiNZ and UMFHA have shared an outline of the proposed new organisation, including its purpose, membership and governance structures, along with a proposed export levy funding mechanism further down the track.
The most immediate challenge for the new organisation, once established, will be to finalise the proposed business plan and establish an agreed work plan reflecting key priorities of both beekeepers and exporters.
“We believe this is a strong proposal that will deliver a better outcome for our industry, and we look forward to getting feedback from our members and wider industry,” say Nathan and Rob.
The intention is for the new organisation to be active by April 2025.