[Oldtimer]

For those with a 1/2 hour to spare, this is a link to the first episode of a New Zealand TV series about a family run beekeeping business.

"Honey Wars follows the fortunes – and misfortunes – of the Murray family, the force behind Tai Tokerau Honey, a whānau-owned and operated honey business based in the far north of New Zealand. Helmed by husband and wife Rob and Lon Murray and staffed by their offspring, siblings and cousins, Tai Tokerau Honey is famous for its Mānuka honey which, at its most potent, can fetch hundreds of dollars a kilo. But the business of bees is a fickle one and the Murrays face a battle on several fronts to keep their business and therefore their whānau, afloat".

https://www.primetv.co.nz/honey-wars-catch-up#intro

 

[Honeyeater]

Sounds interesting, only available to NZ viewers though, if you don't have a VPN.

 

[Oldtimer]

Oh, I was hoping it would work world wide.

If anyone knows a fix please let's know.

 

[Hogback Honey]

Not your video, but an interesting one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtLPsYDtYEI

 

[Oldtimer]

Thanks Hogback, that's the other drama happening atm downunder

 

[johno]

Oldtimer it appears to me that the Aussies have known about this honey for quite some time but as it tasted so bad that they could not sell it until the Kiwis came up with this sales pitch that Manuka honey was the greatest discovery since man invented beer. So as free markets go the Aussies jumped into the market but had the audacity to discount the price, So the greedy capitalists in NZ do not like the competition so are trying to create a monopoly with the help of some greedy politicians somewhere. We call that kind of stuff crony capitalism.

 

[Hogback Honey]

Thanks Hogback, that's the other drama happening atm downunder

Your welcome, wish I could find your original post on youtube. In 2011 my sisters and I traveled to Australia, and then New Zealand. LOVED New Zealand, we stayed at the Bounty Inn, at the Bay of Islands, the owner, Brett, was a VERY gracious host. One thing I LOVED was that in all the tourist shops, I'd say about 99% of everything was made in New Zealand. Everyone was so accommodating, courteous and friendly , and I also loved the Maori eye candy

 

[Oldtimer]

LOL, thanks Hogback

And Johno you are about right, kinda.

However what wasn't really touched on in that video clip is that Maori people are quite sensitive about misaproporiation of their culture. This is due to a history of them being portrayed sometimes in a mocking or insensitive way, and things that to them are sacred, being used to for example advertise beer. We have now moved on and European NZ now has a better understanding of things Maori than used to be the case, although there is still a way to go, but at least Maori have now discovered how to assert their opinions in an appropriate manner in a European dominated world.
But people in foreign lands taking aspects of Maori culure or language (which is also sacred), especially for financial gain in a capitalist system, is insulting to them, very much so.

Europeans arrived and by one means or another took most of the land from the original owners, leaving Maori the worst, unfarmable, manuka covered land. Then all of a sudden, manuka honey becomes valuable, and Maori find themselves in a position to make a lot of money. People moved from poverty, to running successful businesses. The Aussies stealing the name and jumping on our coat tails has not gone down well, after we have spent millions developing the brand.

What's worse, we have standards and lab tests to prove the manuka honey is the real deal, Australia does not. They can and do call anything they like manuka honey, and most of it bears little resemblance to NZ manuka honey. We worry the reputation will be eroded.

 

[johno]

Oldtimer from the Maori cultural point of view all the Maori have in the honey is the name that they called that plant, and I see from one of those links that the name of Manuka was used by the Aussies in the 1800"s so are the Maoris just trying to jump on the bus now that markets and values have been created by beekeepers years ago that used to rent some of these Manuka rich North Lands. Did not the Maori people when they saw the value of this product then try to keep it all for themselves. If in the first place if the original beekeepers had marketed
this product under Tea Tree honey which could cure from the dreaded lergy to grandma's corns what would be the Maoris cultural claims then be. The story about the arrival of Europeans is the story of history where a stronger nation displaces a weaker nation just like on New Zealand's Chatham Island where the Maoris displaced some other more peaceful pacific island tribe, The same is said in South Africa where the Europeans displaced some African tribes who had actually displaced another people called the Khoi. The standards for Manuka honey are quite recent, were not many beekeepers in New Zealand not selling all sorts of stuff with a Manuka label which has brought about these standards anyway. So at the end of the day it is always the same story you will not continue to fool your buyers if you are selling sub standard products.

 

[Oldtimer]

Yes that is how colonisation works. However citing past injustices does not make it right to disrespect something that somebody else holds as important, despite that is what has always been done by any conquering culture, to the subdued.

As to the attempt by the Australian honey industry to introduce the word manuka to the Australian language, they have used as their justification some street or place names to "prove" that the word manuka has always been an Australian word. But the truth of the matter is go back more than 10 years and no Australian knew what manuka was or meant, the word was not used, and the place names (which can be counted on the fingers of one hand), were given by settlers who moved from New Zealand.