NZ Exporters Demand Crackdown After Magazine Suggests
Retailers Raking It In Selling Bogus Manuka
New Zealand Herald, 7/3/2014
Manuka honey exporters want the Government to clamp down on
"cowboys" bringing the $150 million-a-year industry into
international disrepute.
"The whole thing is stupid - it's the whole New Zealand
Inc reputation - the legislation is available," said Unique Manuka Factor
Honey Association chief John Rawcliffe last night of a damning report into
counterfeit product allegedly crowding British supermarket shelves.
"We have to do things correctly and we can really grow
this industry. If we continue this way, we are going to make fools of
ourselves," he said.
Mr Rawcliffe was responding from Bali to a special
investigation by Britain's The Grocer trade magazine, which claims lack of
clarity over what constitutes real manuka honey is allowing dodgy dealers to
sell bogus product for up to $116 for a 500g jar, as endorsements from movie
and sports stars fuel global demand.
Under a headline "The Great Manuka Honey Swindle",
the magazine quotes a honey expert as claiming a leading British retailer has
pocketed $39 million from selling jars of what it claims to be manuka honey but
which is no better for consumers than a Scottish heather honey 90 per cent
cheaper.
It asks whether retailers are deliberately misleading
consumers or whether they are victims of confused claims about the
disease-fighting properties of true manuka, which Hollywood A-lister Scarlett
Johanssen swears by, as do tennis star Novak Djokovic and classical singer
Katherine Jenkins.
The Grocer says only 1700 tonnes of true manuka honey are
produced annually in New Zealand, yet 1800 tonnes of what purports to be the
sweet elixir are sold in Britain among 10,000 tonnes globally.
Mr Rawcliffe said the annual production figure was more like
2400 tonnes but there were too many unscrupulous operators both here and
overseas undermining the efforts of honest players…
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