J. Friend and Co is proud to announce the launch of NZ Artisan Honey, a range of single varietal certified organic honey.

The launch of the range is the realisation of a long held desire by Jeremy Friend and Sharyn Woodnorth to introduce others to the myriad of flavours good quality single varietal honey provides.

“We have always been fascinated by honey but frustrated by the lack of quality honey available to consumers. The majority of honey on the market is blended, over processed, over heated and poorly packaged- resulting in a generic flavoured and generally bland honey. 

Quality is the key-we only select honeys from artisan Beekeepers who are truly passionate about their craft".

Each release of NZ Artisan Honey is produced in small, quality batches, with specific labels for each vintage much like a good wine. Each label states the specific floral varietal source, the name of the beekeeper, the vintage and the specific region the honey is collected from. 

Jeremy and Reese with beehives

“Trying all types of honey from around the country, we found that it was not only the flowers that create quite distinct flavour, sweetness and texture, honey also develops a unique regional character depending on the environment in which it is produced”.

“Our aim is to continually source new and unique single varietal organic honeys from some of New Zealand’s most spectacular locations.”

Two years in the making, J. Friend and Co has developed eight different varietals for the first release, including Pohutukawa Honey from Waitete Bay in the Coromandel, Wild Thyme honey from the Waikerikeri Valley in Central Otago and Beechwood Honeydew Honey from the Reefton to Rahu Saddle on the West Coast.

“Right from the first taste of our selected honeys we knew we were on to something special”