Manuka honey from the mountains of New Zealand
Manuka Honey MGO 250
Manuka Honey MGO 400
Manuka Honey MGO 800

ABOUT MADHU & MANUKA

WHAT MAKES
MANUKA UNIQUE

Due to intense research conducted in New Zealand and Germany alike, the active compound by the name of methylglyoxal was discovered in significantly higher amounts within Manuka honey compared to other types of honey. Methylglyoxal in combination with hydrogen peroxide likely holds the secret to the attributes that make Manuka honey truly so unique.

About Madhu
Bees

The Origin of Madhu

The name Madhu has its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest written languages in the world, and means sweet or honey. Madhu to this day provides the base for many Indo-European words related to honey, such as mead, met, miel, medus, miod, just to name a few. Thus, it was clear and obvious that we would market our honey under the name of Madhu Honey.

From the Bee
To the Comb
Into the Glass Jar

ABOUT US

The Story of
Madhu Honey

A Magic Moment

It all began in September 2013 in a small studio apartment in New York. we have just returned from a long journey to Thailand. Fall was in the air, and the afternoon sun hung low in the sky over the East Village, filling 1st Street and 1st Avenue with its warm light. With hands full of luggage and a large trekking rucksacks on our backs, we entered the flat of our friend Shawn – and came to a sudden halt in the doorway, right in front of our eyes something incredible was happening. The sun was shining through the window onto the kitchen table, illuminating a huge crystal jar that was somehow managing to fill the entire room with bright golden yellow patterns. What was in this mysterious container?

Madhu with bees
Bees

An Extraordinary Gift

The jar was filled with an amber-colored creamy substance, its natural radiance intensified by the glow of the afternoon sun. It was honey, and not just any honey! What we were looking at was a full 25 kilos in a single jar. Where on earth does someone get so much honey in New York? And who had had the idea to bottle such an amount? It turned out that Shawn’s father had launched himself into beekeeping four years ago, and ever since was regularly sending jars of honey to his son. What an extraordinary gift! And as we were blinking in the golden light, an idea started to form in our heads.

Following the Honey

In spring 2014, only a few months after that enlightening moment in Shawn’s apartment, we embarked on a new journey by joining an organic beekeeping farm in Germany. Driven by our curiosity and by the joy we found in our newly discovered passion we decided to continue our studies even through the winter months. We travelled to New Zealand where summer had just begun to learn more about bees and honey. There, not only did we get introduced to the unique honey originating from the flowers of the native Manuka tree, we also met fellow beekeeper Phil Vercoe. For weeks, we worked side by side, and once again, it was a friendship that inspired us to take the next step. Thanks to Phil’s support, we succeeded in importing Manuka honey to Germany after only our second beekeeping season in New Zealand.

That’s behind

The appreciation for quality honey, good beekeeping practices, as well as a sound knowledge of product and its origin are what we seek to combine under the brand of Madhu Honey.

Madhu Honey is a lean company with passionate members. We believe that honey is only as good as all parties involved in the chain of production. Therefore, we work directly and in close relationship with the apiary and oversee transportation needs and warehousing ourselves. We also appoint IFS- and HACCP-certified and trusted quality packers within close proximity to where we are based. One only knows the honey if one knows the apiary, the region, and all the hands involved from source to packaging.

Landscape in New Zealand, the homeland of manuka honey
Breakfast with manuka honey

The Origin

Over the course of a few seasons as a beekeeper, we had been able to develop a network of beekeepers in New Zealand. When good friend Bennet finally joined in on the business idea, the company Madhu Honey was born, specializing in the marketing of quality Manuka honey. We buy the honey directly, take care of all transportation issues and sell it under our Madhu Honey brand. Only if we are able to truly trace the origins of our honey, can we then confidently live up to our quality assurance and the promises that Manuka Honey makes to its customers, while advocating our PURE RAW HONEY philosophy.

Manuka Honey

Honey from the Tea Tree

The broom-like shrub known by many as the tea tree has many names, and there are over 30 different types of tea tree. In New Zealand, we mainly differentiate between Manuka (Leptospermum Scoparium) and Kanuka (Kunzea Ericoidis). These two shrubs look similar at first sight; however, upon closer inspection, flowers and leaves can be told apart. In some areas of New Zealand, Kanuka is more prevalent than Manuka and vice versa. These close relatives can oftentimes be found together or in close proximity to one another, with bees collecting from both sources and turning both nectars into honey. The scent, flavor, and consistency of a pure Kanuka and a pure Manuka are identical. Moreover, the pollen from both varieties under a microscope cannot be differentiated. This fact testifies to their apparent close relationship. Manuka is, after all, a Maori word which is often used to describe the whole tea tree family in New Zealand. A clear definition has only recently been established.

New Zealand - The land of manuka honey

Why Manuka Honey?

Due to intense research conducted in New Zealand and Germany alike, the active compound by the name of methylglyoxal was discovered in significantly higher amounts within Manuka honey compared to other types of honey. Methylglyoxal in combination with hydrogen peroxide likely holds the secret to the attributes that make Manuka honey truly so unique. However, it is important to note that a natural product can never solely be limited to its compounds. Oftentimes it is the general makeup and the synergy of the compounds and consistency that leads to the benefits we so desire. Perhaps now it simple to understand how important it is to not alter the traits of a pure raw honey, in order to ensure its beneficial qualities. If we break down the ingredients of honey, we will arrive at roughly the following figures:

80% sugars (glucose, fructose and other types of sugars), 17% water, and 3% enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and hormones. It is however exactly this 3% that makes all the difference in regular sweeteners. If we were to isolate all these active ingredients in this 3%, we would arrive at packs of sugar, pills, and supplements. Another fact, however, is that our intestines are limited in their absorption of these nutrients, lacking an adequate carrier. Even worse, in the example of refined sugar, such compounds can even be harmful to our system. Honey is therefore not only a complex and easily digestible boost of natural energy, but is also the perfect carrier with the ideal consistency to hold the nutrients our intestine can actually absorb.

Thus, honey is an ancient and yet, as confirmed by research, a new product. Manuka honey has shed new light onto the perfected recipe of bees and has, due to its many properties, not only become appreciated as a delicious sweetener but become regarded as a food fit for the gods. Manuka has revived this dormant knowledge of honey’s relieving and soothing qualities and has thus been much-heralded around the globe.

manuka bush with flower

What is Real Manuka Honey?

The broad perception of Manuka honey in laboratories worldwide today is that Manuka honey is a honey that tastes, looks, and smells like Manuka honey and possesses significant amounts of methylglyoxal and dihydroxyacetone and leptosperin (unique to Manuka). This inevitably includes the Manuka-Kanuka blends as well. These shrubs are geographically exclusive in only a few instances. The bees are not picky and enjoy the Manuka/Kanuka shrubs for different reasons. Beekeepers have, contrary to their own beliefs, never been able to dictate the flight path of their bees.

In any case, we provide a strong, spicy, and at times bitter-tasting pure Manuka honey in its natural complex range, with the promised minimum MGO content as indicated on the jar. Our raw product is sometimes darker and sometimes lighter in color, sometimes more liquid and sometimes thicker in consistency, sometimes stronger and at times more balanced, just the way a natural product comes. All these differences make up the characteristics of raw Manuka honey and are still another quality criterion of a heterogenous untampered honey that changes it’s consistency over time.

It is our true and great honor to share our appreciation for honey with our carefully selected assortment in various MGO concentrations with you. The concentration is given in milligrams per kilogram and is tested twice by independent laboratories in New Zealand (Analytica Laboratories) and Germany (Quality Services International in Bremen).

Contact

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