Many of us enjoy using honey every day, as it’s a natural, light sweetener that works well in tea or coffee. But did you know there are distinctive types of honey that come from all over the world? One of these kinds of honey is manuka honey, which tends to be more expensive than generic honey. Read on to learn what makes manuka honey so special.
Remote Region
Manuka honey only comes from one place on Earth, and that’s New Zealand. In fact, there are only a few select regions in the country that have dense supplies of pure manuka honey. These areas are quite remote and are often only accessible via helicopter. Because of these locational challenges, simply acquiring the honey is an expensive, complicated operation.
Limited Supply
Due to the limited areas in New Zealand where one can harvest pure manuka honey, you won’t find yourself surprised to know that it’s one of the rarest honeys in the world. In fact, harvesters only get about 2800 tons of this delicious sweetener each year. That may seem like a lot, but when you consider the worldwide demand, it’s really not a large supply.
Short Bloom
It seems there’s no end to the many reasons why manuka honey is so special. Another reason why its price is higher than other honeys is due to the relatively short blooming season of the manuka tree. The manuka tree’s bloom lasts only two to six weeks each year. Even so, there are factors that can affect if all its flowers bloom or if they bloom at all, such as poor weather conditions.
Next time you head to the store and see manuka honey, you’ll be better able to appreciate the long journey it took to be on the shelf. You might even feel prompted to splurge and enjoy this luxury honey to taste the difference.
