Comvita and Silver Fern Farms took home gongs from this year’s Deloitte Top 200 Awards.
The ex-CEO of The Better Health Company Group, Scott Johnson, will take the reins at the probiotics firm.
Mānuka honey specialist Comvita saw its share price dive more than 13% following an earnings downgrade.
The mānuka honey specialist says it will struggle to deliver its promised double-digit earnings growth in its 2024 financial year as demand in its core China and US markets softens.
The Natural Health Alliance welcomes the coalition government’s plan to repeal the Therapeutic Products Act 2023, which bundled food product compliance in with medicines and pharmaceuticals.
Ngāi Tahu’s seafood business delivered an improved FY23 result despite the turbulent economic backdrop which contributed in-part to the poor year at its shrinking honey operations.
Westland Dairy, Comvita and Scales are among the food firms shortlisted for the Deloitte Top 200 Awards, with a number of individuals also making the cut.
The honey and VMS company is in talks with its lenders after warning that it is likely to undershoot its sales forecasts – with a capital raise and asset sales still on the table.
The iwi is shutting down its honey operations in the North Island and will tap into The Mānuka Collective to support its South Island business.
Me Today is rounding out its 2023 new product development programme with the planned release of a Me Today brand Super Honey.
A new Level 2 New Zealand Certificate in Primary Industry Skills – Apiculture programme has been added at NMIT Te Pūkenga.
Associate Agriculture Minister Jo Luxton has officially launched Bee Aware Month 2023, an annual nationwide celebration of bees and their importance to the ecosystem, food chain, and economy.
The embattled honey and VMS company is looking at the sale of assets or raising new capital after another punishing year keeps its balance sheet under pressure.
Comvita has co-sponsored the first Honey Research symposium at Queenstown Research Week.
Healthcare and pet products company Ebos added 23% to its underlying net profit after tax to deliver a record result of $281.8m.
The honey company says all of its market segments have reported double-digit revenue growth, with Greater China breaking the $100m mark for the first time.
Comvita has received B Corp Certification.
Christchurch biotechnology company PharmaZen reported a disappointing result for the six months to 30 June 2023, following significant staffing issues in the first quarter.
The luxury mānuka honey company’s latest offering has a $2,500 price tag for a 230g jar.
The former chief executive of failed honey export company Oceania Natural has been hit with the highest possible court penalties for market manipulation.
Blis Technologies delivered revenue growth of 18% and a break-even EBITDA result for the first quarter ending 30 June 2023.
The honey and VMS company is slashing hive numbers to below 2,000 in a further scaling back of the 18,000 hives it acquired with King Honey.
Timaru-based Jarved Allan from The Mānuka Collective achieves a supreme hat-trick at the annual Apiculture NZ National Honey Competition.
Comvita makes good on its pledge to consolidate ownership of the mānuka honey sector, buying Singapore’s HoneyWorld.
Comvita has signed what the company described as “a significant long term partnership” with Olé supermarkets in China.
Mānuka honey specialist Comvita reported record sales in the recent 618 shopping festival in China, up 12% compared with last year’s event.
Australian mānuka honey producers have followed New Zealand’s industry by confirming it will not appeal the recent Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand decision.
The Mānuka Honey Appellation Society will not appeal the recent Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand decision.
Christchurch biotechnology company PharmaZen says it has successfully filled 15 vacancies this year, which will help it overcome a poor first half of FY23 due to labour shortages.
Prolife Foods’ Haddrell’s honey business has bagged two gold medals at the 2023 London International Honey Awards for its Mānuka Honey UMF™ 22+ and Limited Edition Mānuka Honey UMF™ 25+.
The recent mānuka honey trademark decision highlights how ill-equipped NZ’s laws are for protecting Māori taonga and mātauranga Māori.
New Zealand’s regulatory definition of mānuka honey has been validated following a reassessment and will not be changed, says New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle.
An international healthcare summit to be hosted in New Zealand is set to bring together health, tech and food stakeholders as well as international health policy specialists and government representatives.
Probiotics manufacturer Blis Technologies has delivered revenue of $10.2m, 14% growth on the prior year, with an EBITDA loss of $0.6m and a net deficit of $1.4m.
A poor mānuka honey harvest more than doubles Me Today’s expected write-down.
IPONZ calls the case a “trans-Tasman tussle of extraordinary proportions over trade mark rights for mānuka honey”.
Planting a range of bee-friendly plants and protecting pollinators was the focus of this year’s World Bee Day on Saturday 20 May.
The Christchurch biotechnology company delivers a strong post-Covid turnaround in 2022 despite battling supply chain snarl-ups and labour shortages.
From 31 May, tariffs on more than 97% of exports to the United Kingdom, including wine, honey, and onions, will be eliminated.
The mānuka honey exporter credits its break-even harvest model for seeing it through the challenging season, which has seen volumes fall sharply.
With the heft of Nestlé now behind it, South Taranaki’s Egmont Honey is jumping into new export markets, adding retailers and working up NPD opportunities.
Buzzstop Bee & Honey Centre has launched a campaign to promote sustainable practices in mānuka honey production.
Dunedin probiotics company Blis Technologies has upgraded its revenue and earnings guidance for the financial year ended 31 March 2023.
Mānuka honey company Comvita says its skincare joint venture in the US, Caravan Honey, has managed to secure its funds from Silicon Valley Bank.
The mānuka honey company’s Caravan Honey venture has US$2.5m with the failed Silicon Valley Bank, which it cannot access.
Ingredient manufacturer SeaDragon has delisted from the USX.
The honey and VMS company’s H1 results attracted more red ink as it worked through the restructure of its honey operation and continued investing to build its sales pipeline.
Mānuka honey company Comvita has delivered a barnstorming set of interims results setting records for a 61% increase in operating profit to $11.6m in the six months to 31 December.
Australasia’s Ebos benefits from a strong pet food market, while Just Life grapples with wage, cost and interest inflation.
Comvita will likely write off its Hawke’s Bay honey facility, while Delegat and Terra Vitae gain access to their sites.
Dunedin probiotics company Blis Technologies delivered revenue growth of 24% and a positive EBITDA result for the third quarter ending 31 Dec 2022.
The Mānuka Charitable Trust is continuing its fight to protect the term mānuka, after withdrawing a recent UK challenge for what it described as “technical reasons”.
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Legislation to modernise the way medicines, medical devices and natural health products are regulated has been introduced in Parliament.
John Parker says fresh opportunities and products from the company will help bring people back to honey again.
Just Life Group has downgraded its first half net profit forecast due to stock outs in the supply of health supplements, as well as a slowdown in new build homes hitting its healthy homes division.
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Its struggling honey firm Oha books $22m in write downs and impairments after a tough year.
New Zealand Coastal Seafoods generated cash receipts of just over $1m during the third quarter to the end of September 2022, up from around $240,000 in the June 2022 period, and an increase of 7.6% on the previous corresponding period.
New Zealand Coastal Seafoods has signed a memorandum of understanding with an Asia Pacific healthcare product distributor, Ingredients Plus.
The newly formed Aotearoa New Zealand Seaweed Association and the Australian Seaweed Institute have signed a memorandum of understanding to unlock more collaboration between the organisations.
After raising and borrowing more than $7m over the past two years, SeaDragon says it is seeing signs of promise in its value-add plan.
Manuka honey specialist Comvita has laid out a bullish forecast at its annual shareholder meeting, in contrast with Me Today, whose troubled acquisition of King Honey continues to drag the business.
Multinational giant Nestlé pays hundreds of millions to acquire the owner of the Egmont Honey and GO Healthy brands.
SeaDragon and its major shareholder Pescado Holdings have agreed a debt for equity swap.
Among the big opportunities from the new partnership could be a push in Europe for the Waikato company’s mānuka honey brand Haddrell’s.
SeaDragon has signed a new secured loan agreement of $1m with its majority shareholder, Pescado Holdings.
The King Honey owner says the new products will be out next month, and it also reveals how much revenue its acquired honey business has generated.
“The result shared today gives more evidence we can deliver revenue, margin and earnings growth while investing in long term brand and business building activity,” says chair Brett Hewlett.
Natural Health Products NZ has announced the winners of its annual industry awards, including the Supreme Award for the best overall entry, which went to Keraplast Manufacturing.
Christchurch biotechnology company PharmaZen, which trades as Waitaki Biosciences, saw revenue jump 36% to $12.8m in the first half to 30 June 2022.
The seaweed company secures backing from the government’s Regional Strategic Partnership Fund for a $1.5m expansion of its Waikato plant.
Tony Falkenstein’s Just Life Group is adding Natural Solutions NZ to its ‘Healthy Living’ division, following its purchase of About Health and Intenza New Zealand.
The Omega fish oils refiner’s record of red ink prompts a warning from its auditor, while management hopes future sales, margins and prices will see it through.
Ārepa, Zestt and Anagenix are among the homegrown ventures on the shortlist for the functional food, dietary supplement, and nutrition awards.
A 2021 tie-up with Probi provides a blueprint for the Dunedin probiotics company, prompting it to move away from direct-to-consumer sales.
Sales to the US$1.4bn market currently only comprise 3% of Comvita’s $192m revenue, but that is set to change following EU FTA.
The Christchurch company says it has successfully commercialised a new collagen powder in a potential game-changing achievement for the business.
The independent honey company’s Hannah O’Brien tells the NZIFST conference what is driving her customers’ behaviour.
Timaru-based The Mānuka Collective has taken home the Supreme award at the annual Apiculture New Zealand National Honey Competition for the second year in a row.
King Honey owner Me Today says it has placed $750,000 of the shortfall arising from its rights issue, bringing the total capital raised to approximately $7.5m.
The deal builds the food giant’s footprint in the regional honey and VMS market, and unlocks growth with the addition of an Auckland factory.
Health, wellness and honey company Me Today has raised approximately $6.74m from a rights issue which closed on Thursday 23 June – enough to cover cashflow but short of the $10m target.
King Honey owner Me Today has opened its $10m rights issue offering eligible shareholders the opportunity to participate at $0.01 per share.
Comvita is forecasting that its full-year reported EBITDA is expected to be in a range of $28.5m – $30m, for the year ending June 2022.
Comvita has scotched reports that it is in talks over a proposed take-private by shareholder CR Capital Management, the investment arm of Chine Resources Holdings Co.
The healthcare and wellness group is downsizing its honey operations and raising cash to invest in its brands and international distribution.
Building a better future for bees is the focus of this year’s World Bee Day on Friday 20 May, says Apiculture New Zealand.
Comvita has reported an unaudited EBITDA of $23.9m – around 93% of FY21 full year actuals – in a market update on its performance for the 10 months to the end of April.
The Employment Court has found three former Gloriavale commune members on the West Coast were employees not volunteers at the registered charity which has F&B ventures.
Food and beverage sector appointments and people moves for the week to 6 May 2022.
Food and beverage sector appointments and people moves to the week of 29 April.
The Cruelty Free Shop is recalling a batch of Holy Cow brand Golden Crunch vegan honeycomb coated in dark chocolate due to incorrect labelling about the presence of an allergen, namely milk.
Apiculture New Zealand has successfully secured funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund, for a two-year project that will help identify how sector can achieve sustainable growth.
Comvita’s mixed reality Mānuka honey tasting experience, developed in partnership with Microsoft, is set to become part of everyday trading at some Asia stores, following a showcase of the retail technology at New Zealand Expo in Dubai.
Manuka honey manufacturer Wilderness Valley was the People’s Choice winner at the Westpac Auckland Business Awards 2021 south and east region.
The High-Value Nutrition National Science Challenge is contributing $980,000 into a Plant & Food Research led programme looking at native honey and what appeals to consumers.
Comvita has teamed up with Save the Kiwi in what it describes as a “significant sponsorship agreement” that will ultimately provide safe habitat for the iconic birds across the North Island.
Two shareholders in Oceania Natural have been fined a combined $310,000 after they admitted to charges of market manipulation and disclosure breaches..
Auckland-headquartered international coffee chain Cooks Global Foods has issued 80,989,340 new shares at 3 cents each totalling $2.43m following a shortfall from its rights issue last year.
The healthcare and wellness company has had to turn to its investors for cash after being surprised by inventory levels after its acquisition of King Honey.
Biosecurity New Zealand’s annual Winter Colony Loss survey shows 13.6% of hives were lost in 2021, up 2.3% on the previous year because of growth in varroa mite and related complications.
SeaDragon has secured a new loan agreement of $500,000 from majority shareholder Pescado Holdings, as well as pushing out the repayment date of an existing loan facility.
Me Today Group has called a special meeting for Friday 18 March to seek approval from shareholders for a $6m placement of additional share capital.
Tony Falkenstein’s Just Life Group has reported a lower net profit of $1.57m in the six months ended December because of Auckland’s extended lockdown.
New Zealand Health Products says regulatory reform is needed to fix “badly broken dietary supplement rules.”
The company says it wants to consolidate ownership of the mānuka honey sector to generate operating leverage and drive “higher category standards”.
The investor expands its new mānuka honey platform with the addition of a second business.
The Taranaki company is “making good headway” with its plan to meet a growing appetite for mānuka honey in the US, says CEO James Annabell.
T&G Global says its group profit for the 2021 financial year is now forecast to be between $12.5m – $14.5m, up from its October guidance of $4m – $10m.
There are two recalls because of the threat of salmonella.
Canterbury-based Alyssa Wilson has scooped the Apiculture New Zealand Ron Mossop Youth Scholarship in beekeeping.
New Zealand’s honey sector is appealing a UK Intellectual Property Office decision that declined a manuka honey trademark application.
New Zealand’s national honey production in the 2020-21 season was down 24% on the previous season to 20,500 tonnes, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries.
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The healthcare and wellness company turns to shareholders to stump up funds because of “cashflow pressure” following its King Honey acquisition.
New Zealand beauty and supplement company Jeuneora has closed its capital raise after hitting its maximum target of $3.5m.
Pāmu Farms has signed a deal with distributor Ciels that will see a range of premium nutritional supplements sold in Vietnam in the new year.
Just Life Group has hired Graeme Read to be its chief financial officer.
Milk and honey spread brand Onetai has landed in Asia and the Pacific but wants domestic sales to be the “foundation of the business”.
Probiotics firm Blis Technologies has reported an interim loss of $1.80m for the six months to September 2021, down 268% on the $1.07m profit it made for the same period last year.
Mānuka honey company Comvita said it recorded record sales in line with its forecasts for November’s Singles Day or 11:11 – the world’s biggest shopping event and key event in its focus growth market of China.
Tony Falkenstein’s Just Life Group will pay a final dividend of 1.4 centre a share for the year ended 30 June 2021.
The iwi’s seafood business sees operating profit leap 37%, offsetting a poor FY21 for honey and farming.
Omega fish oils refiner SeaDragon says it has signed a new secured loan agreement of up to $1.5m with its majority shareholder, Pescado Holdings.
The pandemic has delivered the supplement and health food firm new consumers who have pushed up global revenue by 50%.
Is it food or is it art? Either way, a jar of Mars ZH21 could be yours for a cool $8,888.
Comvita has reported its first quarter EBITDA improved by 10.6% compared with Q1 last year.
Tony Falkenstein’s Just Life Group says Auckland’s ongoing lockdown will affect the company’s results.
Tony Falkenstein’s Just Life Group has acquired supplements maker Intenza New Zealand.
Mānuka honey exporter Comvita has launched an immersive experience at Expo 2020 Dubai to bring bees, people and nature together.
New research that has found how mānuka flowers create the Unique Mānuka Factor in honey could help New Zealand producers.
The healthcare and wellness company says sales of King Honey product will be “considerably less” than expected.
The omega fish oils refiner says new food ingredients and white label products are about to launch following its pivot to higher value oil sales.
Comvita has released its annual report and its full of insight about how the company sees its operations and markets, including an extensive Q&A with board chair Brett Hewlett and chief executive David Banfield.
Manuka honey exporter Comvita has appointed a trio of new board directors, namely Bridget Coates, Yawen Wu and chief executive David Banfield.
The cash included $14.5m for a new research programme to help develop New Zealand’s horticultural sector to prepare for climate change.
Developing a skincare brand means the honey company can promote the benefits of both mānuka and propolis to raise awareness in the US.
Manuka honey supplier Comvita says it will acquire up to 350,000 of its shares, which are currently trading at about $3.65.
Tony Falkenstein’s Just Life Group has reported net profit of $3.3m for the year to June 2021, up 12.9% on the previous period.
Sports nutrition retailer Sportsfuel has bought health food manufacturer Nothing Naughty.
A turnaround is taking hold at the honey company, which is focussed on growth in the world’s two biggest honey markets, China and the US.
The news follows Bryan Mogridge’s appointment as executive chair of the omega fish oils refiner.
Comvita’s Wellness Lab in Auckland has been shortlisted in the New Zealand Best Design Awards 2021.
The United Arab Emirates presents a fertile market for New Zealand food and beverage exports particularly for fruit and honey products, according to new research from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
Operating costs skyrocketed at the nutritional ingredient manufacturer during the six months to June.
NZHFC made representations such as “100% New Zealand” knowing the royal jelly ingredient was from China, finds a court.
Described as a milk factory in a box, Happy Cow Milk Company, has today launched its second capital raise as it looks to scale-up its prototype into paddocks and retailers around the country.
SeaDragon bosses remain committed to a turnaround at the omega-3 oil producer despite “unsatisfactory” full year results.
Honey exports are on track to rise 13% to $480m in 2020-21 according to MPI’s latest Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries.
From established names like chocolatier Whittaker’s and honey specialist Comvita through to hemp meat trailblazer, Plan*t, NZ food producers have been recognised in a raft of awards this week – but not always for their food.
Timaru-based Jarved Allan of 100% Pure New Zealand Honey took home the supreme award at Apiculture New Zealand’s National Honey Competition.
Me Today shareholders have approved the $36m purchase of King Honey with an overwhelming 99.99% vote in favour.
New Zealand honey company Manawa Honey has won the grand prize at the 10th Black Jar Contest.
Egmont Honey is launching its health supplements range, Egmont Health, into Australasian retailer Coles.
