Our CEO Blanche Morrough received the news of the historic NZ-EU trade deal while away in Australia as part of the Prime Minister's trade mission. She's been praising the deal that protects the brand and trademark of Mānuka honey in the same way France has the sole right to the name champagne.
The EU is New Zealand's fourth-largest trading partner with two-way goods and services trade was worth NZ$17.5 billion for the year to December 2021. This presents a huge opportunity for the New Zealand Mānuka Honey industry and for Kai Ora as we work to establish ourselves as the leading indigenous Mānuka Honey company.
New Zealand and European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement includes the definition of Mānuka and a separate tariff recognising the inherent distinctiveness of Mānuka as a taonga species exclusively from Aotearoa New Zealand.
For EU consumers, it means that they can trust they are getting genuine honey produced in Aotearoa New Zealand from our Mānuka trees.
As the Granddaughter of Wai 262 lead claimant Saana Murray, she sees this as one way of fulfilling the intent of the claim.
Morrogh remembers the "pain" experienced by her grandmother in her effort to fight for Māori interests in tāonga species and says that if she was still here, she would have celebrated the move.
Morrogh is a part of the Prime Minister’s 31-strong trade delegation touring Australia. She’s not only using the trip to strengthen her connections in the Australian market but also to champion the indigenous knowledge that goes with her products.
“This has been a great year, an exciting year, as we launched into Australia with NZTE and its Made With Care programme,” she said.
Kai Ora Honey currently exports 60 million tonnes of honey to the world and, after the hardships during the pandemic, she’s hopeful that the trip will speed up the recovery phase.