Wet weather washout for manuka honey
Manuka honey exporter Comvita confirmed its North Island harvest has been knocked 60 per cent by poor weather but a Canterbury producer says his region may yet enjoy a bumper harvest.
Leeston-based Airborne Honey managing director Peter Bray said viper’s bugloss flowering in the region had been ‘‘exceptional’’ and recent rain would see strong clover bloom in sunny weather expected over the next few weeks.
Reduction in this year’s overall national honey harvest followed a record 2016 harvest of 19,885 tonnes, compared with a six-year average of 14,587 tonnes, about half of it exported.
Bray said an equally significant development for exporters this year would be an announcement on January 26 of a new manuka honey standard from the Ministry for Primary Industries.
It might affect manuka exporters depending on whether stricter definitions of manuka honey are introduced, Bray said.
Airborne was focused on table honeys, exporting 30 per cent of production, rather than exploiting the therapeutic qualities of manuka honey, Bray said.
A board member and past president of Apiculture NZ, Barry Foster, agreed some southern honey producers may benefit from late clover bloom, and confirmed North Island production had been badly affected.
Comvita chief executive Scott Coulter said the company had revised its 2017 expected net profit after tax from $17.1 million to between $5m and $7m. The revision also accounts for lower sales into China recently.
Comvita previously advised the market of a $7m interim loss to be announced on February 21, including falls in the value of an investment in Sea Dragon options.
Coulter said his company had been buying manuka honey from third-party suppliers recently to meet meet customer demand for the next 12 months.
The Australian market remained strong, albeit lower than historically, he said.