Source / Manawa Honey NZ (YouTube)
Rewarewa Honey produced by Tūhoe company Manawa Honey is officially the 'The Best Tasting Honey in the World' after the Ruatāhuna honey producer won grand first prize at an international tasting contest in the United States.
"We were gob-smacked when we got the email to say we had won," Manawa Honey's CEO Brenda Tahi said of the win at the 10th Black Jar International Honey Tasting Contest in Asheville, North Carolina.
Rewarewa tree (Honeysuckle). Source / Manawa Honey NZ (YouTube)
The event is the only international contest to focus solely on taste and attracts hundreds of entries from around the world. It uses a carefully designed ‘blind’ tasting process, using ‘black jars’ so that factors of colour or appearance do not affect judging, the company said in a statement.
The contest is run by the Center of Honey Bee Research and aims to highlight the diversity of tastes of honey that come from the floral sources and terroir of different parts of the world.
Manawa Honey CEO Brenda Tahi. Source / Manawa Honey NZ (YouTube)
"It’s an incredible honour to be recognised in this way. We will proudly celebrate this award because it tells us that we in Ruatāhuna, without fame or favour, are able to achieve excellence on the international stage, by making things happen with our own people’s talents, with hard work together and a real commitment to making a better future for our next generations.”
Two other honeys from Manawa Honey also made the finals – Tāwari Honey and Pua-ā-Tāne Wild Forest Honey.
The company says it "specialises in producing exquisite native honeys from the untouched forests of Te Urewera – homeland of our tribe Tūhoe."
"We are committed to involving and developing our own people of Ruatāhuna so that they can flourish in careers in Manawa Honey," the company says on its website.