Children’s Honey From NZ Becoming a Global Success Story

Children’s Honey From NZ Becoming a Global Success Story

New Zealand’s oldest honey brand says parents across the world are recognising the health and quality benefits of feeding New Zealand honey to their children.

According to Airborne Honey, New Zealand’s oldest and most trusted honey brand, and one of the country’s largest honey exporters, children’s honey products are becoming increasingly popular both in New Zealand and further afield.

John Smart, Airborne Honey Sales and Marketing Manager, explains that this is largely due to improved education around the health benefits of honey, as well as international confidence in the safety and quality of honey produced in New Zealand.

“On-going research is further supporting that honey can be a beneficial part of a child’s diet,” he says. “In 2012, for example, a study published in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, revealed that honey before bedtime can significantly ease coughs and colds in children with upper-respiratory infections. On top of that, it is the most natural way to sweeten foods, and is highly palatable for children.”

Airborne Honey’s own product for children, Honey For Kids, has become one of the brand’s top-selling lines both in New Zealand and internationally – another indication that children’s honey is becoming more widely sought after.

“Children’s honey is becoming particularly popular in China,” says John. “Mums are purchasing New Zealand honey because they want to be confident in the quality of the honey they are feeding their children.”

In recent years, there has been much debate over the authenticity of liquid honey. Many liquid honeys, including those marketed at children have been found to be over-processed and heat damaged. This is especially prevalent in countries such as the United States and China.

“Over-processing honey fundamentally turns natural honey back into sugar syrup,” says John. “Ultra-filtering it removes the pollen, which is a great source of protein. International standards for honey dictate that the total pollen count for liquid honey should exceed 100,000 pollen grains per 10g. However, many of the liquid squeeze honeys on supermarket shelves have less than 10,000 pollen grains per 10 grams. The other issue facing honey is over-heating it for long periods of time to liquefy the honey. This process destroys the natural enzymes found in natural honey.”

Airborne Honey has recently introduced an Honest, Undamaged and Traceable label to all honey jars to ensure customers can have the utmost confidence in the product. Honest means that the honey is true to the variety printed on the label. Undamaged demonstrates that the honey has not been heat damaged. Traceable means that every jar of Airborne Honey can be tracked all the way back to the beehive.

The family owned business also donates $0.10 for every squeeze bottle of Honey For Kids sold in New Zealand and around the world to Cholmondeley Children’s Charity. Cholmondeley is not-for-profit organisation helps children that are vulnerable and families in crisis. The charity has seen record levels of need since the earthquakes.

Further details on Airborne Honey can be found at www.airborne.co.nz. You can also join discussions about New Zealand honey and the industry at https://twitter.com/AirborneHoney and on the Airborne Honey Facebook page.

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