adventures in blighty: the true honey co. goes to the UK

You may not know this, but the True Honey Co. high rated Manuka honey is available in some rather far flung spots, a long way from New Zealand’s remote green back country. In fact, you’ll find the good stuff as far away as Birmingham.

And we do like to keep an eye on the journey from hive to home, however far away that may be. So recently, Kate from The True Honey Co. team packed her bags (mainly with Whittaker’s chocolate for UK-living Antipodeans) and travelled to London to meet some of England’s honey lovers.

First stop: a meet up for dinner at Ask for Janice in Farringdon with Emma, our UK based brand guru, who helped us develop the True Honey Co. brand right from the first kernel of an idea.

Then it was a tasting session at oh-so-toney department store Selfridges in Oxford Street. We love doing samplings here in the wonderful Selfridges Foodhalls in both London and Birmingham, because it’s our best opportunity to meet our customers and share our story (while they’re sampling some top notch Manuka honey).

All five honeys ranged at Selfridges are laid out for customers to taste. Our 1000+ MGO Manuka honey seemed to be the favourite, with people enjoying the rich herbaceous flavour and tongue tingle that is the mark of Manuka honey with an exceptionally high MGO.

Selfridges customers love to mix high end with high street. And when it came to Manuka honey, they were true to that philosophy, with either end of the MGO range being the popular choices.

We met all sorts of Manuka honey lovers, from health-conscious retirees to endurance athletes, and those in search of an exquisite last-minute gift. We met many Mayfair locals and visitors from around the world.

High rated Manuka honey was high on the list for gift purchases celebrating June’s Eid al-Fitr, with Middle Eastern honey lovers escaping the heat at home with a spot of shopping in London.

It was a chance to do some celeb spotting too, with a couple of rather famous Londoners taking home a jar or two. But our lips are sealed.

A couple of days later, Kate met up with Nancy, our UK Brand Marketing & Communications Manager, for a journey through some lovely green English countryside. The outing was at the invitation of those clever boffins at the Yorkshire-based Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera Science to their friends who tested our Manuka honey earlier this year. (Read about the test and the results here.) [link to: https://www.truehoneyco.co.uk/en/2017/05/16/test-shows-manuka-honey-even-better-says-jar/]

We wanted to learn more about the rigorous, innovative – and, to be honest, a little over our heads – scientific methods they used to test the authenticity and natural chemical make-up of our Manuka honey. This includes analysing the chemical compounds that are markers of authentic New Zealand Manuka honey.

With heads well and truly filled with science, Kate and Nancy returned to London. And after a few more days of soaking up the Capital’s culture and food, it was time for Kate to offload the last of the chocolate, pack a well-stuffed suitcase, and head back home to share her experiences with those of us left behind. Sigh, maybe next year.