When did honey get so complicated? We’re used to slathering it on our toast but selecting one from the shelf has gotten increasingly complex in recent years.
That’s because although its delicious taste and benefits have been known for a long time, we’re now privy to more exact information involving its composition.
There is also a wider range in the ways honey is sourced and made, which leads to different qualities of honey on the market. Labels like MGO or UMF levels can also lead to confusion while trying to select a honey to use.
Aotearoa in particular is known for its incredibly unique honey, which makes it sought-after globally, putting a premium on some types. Mānuka honey, produced by bees collecting nectar from the mānuka tree, is renowned for its unique antibacterial and health-supporting properties, indicated with those aforementioned labels.
Someone who knows more than most about those labels and properties is Cate King, beekeeper and co-founder of King Bees Honey.
King and her husband Mike own and run the fully traceable, small-batch Mānuka honey business, launched in 2023. It is an evolution of their previous business Pauariki Honey, started in 2016, which involved supplying some of New Zealand’s largest Mānuka exporters.
“After many years of supplying premium honey to other brands, we felt it was the right time to establish our own,” says co-founder Cate. “We wanted to create something personal and transparent, where customers can trust how it was made.”
Their hives are based across multiple remote East Coast locations, selected for their isolation, biodiversity, and abundance of wild Mānuka. Their focus is on an environmentally-proactive approach, prioritising bee welfare, low-intervention practices, and sustainably-sourced, recyclable packaging,
Proving the MGO levels of their product is also crucial. MGO stands for methylglyoxal, the naturally occurring compound responsible for Mānuka’s renowned antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
We asked Cate to explain some of the details around honey and its labels:
What Is MGO?
Cate King: Mānuka honey has a unique superpower that has many benefits, which is derived from the Methylglyoxal (MGO for short) that has been scientifically proven to support wound healing, but there’s also been research into the other beneficial properties, such as being an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and much more.
Unlike regular honey, Mānuka contains high levels of this powerful natural compound. The higher the MGO number on your jar, the more potent the honey.
How is it tested?
There are a few internationally-certified independent labs in New Zealand that can test Mānuka for a range of attributes. The honey is sampled during the extraction process, where the frames are spun at great speed and the centrifugal force pulls the honey out, without any need to touch the honey. The samples are sent to the lab and they then sample the samples, run them through their machines and we receive full reports for each and every batch.
We’re passionate about producing the very best honey and every season we run a full suite of tests to ensure that it’s all tip top and ready for people to enjoy. Our honey is Glyphosate [a specific agricultural weed-killer, or herbicide] residue free, and so we test for that to ensure we receive a non-detect result. As our sites are remote and not near intensive agricultural farms, this has never been an issue for us.
How does it compare to UMF? Is UMF or MGO better?
These are one in the same. The Unique Mānuka Factor (UMF) was a grading system created some years ago by the UMF Honey Association to simplify the Mānuka strength (or activity).
They’re not rivals. They’re just different ways of measuring the same magic. UMF was created to give people a simple way to understand the strength (or activity) of Mānuka honey. It’s a trademarked grading system that includes MGO (methylglyoxal), the powerhouse compound that gives Mānuka its antibacterial bite, plus a couple of other compounds.
MGO is the raw number that tells you how much of that active compound is actually in the jar. So UMF is basically the polished-up version, while MGO gives it to you straight.
At King Bees, we go with MGO because it’s direct, transparent, and doesn’t require a secret decoder ring. MGO 83 = UMF 5. MGO 514 = UMF 15.
What are the different levels of MGO used for?
MGO is an abbreviation of Methylglyoxal, the naturally-occurring compound in Mānuka honey that gives it serious antibacterial power. The higher the MGO, the stronger the antibacterial activity.
As for King Bee MGO options, this is a guide:
MGO 50+
Mānuka blend
This is your tasty, everyday multifloral honey. With a blend of Mānuka and other local flowers, where the antibacterial activity is naturally diluted with other lovely, yummy nectar sources. Ideal for families, kids, and daily enjoyment. Think: daily drizzle, natural sweetener, healthy sugar swap.
MGO 100+
Daily wellness
A step up, this is the start of our monofloral range. Contains enough MGO to support immune health and gut balance, while still tasting smooth and versatile. Great for everyday use when you want more than just sweetness.
MGO 300+
Immunity booster
With stronger antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, it helps support the body’s immune system. Perfect for preventative health and seasonal wellness.
MGO 600+
Potent
This honey is rich and complex. High levels of MGO make it suitable for more targeted health support, including digestion, immunity issues and topical use on skin (think wound care, breakouts and masks). Use when your body needs serious immune support.
What does multifloral blend mean?
A multifloral blend is whatever the bees have collected in the floral sources surrounding their hives. Bees can fly up to 5 kms so the honey can be varied. In the East Coast we place our hives in large native forests with swathes of natural bush, with Mānuka trees flowering for a short period (4-6 weeks) over Summer, we get good volumes of monofloral Mānuka.
What does raw honey mean?
Raw honey is honey that’s been minimally processed. Raw refers to the natural goodness of honey, which hasn’t been heated to high temperatures. This is especially important as Mānuka degrades at temperatures over 70 degrees centigrade.
What should consumers look out for in terms of claims?
This is a great question. Honey is deliciously complex and with lots of testing and numbers applied for quality purposes, it’s easy to forget that it’s a food and great for natural health support.
Some businesses are very commercially focused and it’s all about maximising sales. And this can be at the expense of the quality of the honey.
There’s not really an upper limit for MGO, it’s simply the nectar that is collected by the bees. The higher the MGO, the stronger the taste. It can be quite bitter and dark, so we’ve capped our regular range at MGO600. This is still delicious and packed with goodness, and is an affordable natural wellness support for Kiwis.
Every honey company claims to have high quality honey, and when looking at honey sitting on a shelf, it’s impossible to know for sure.
Honey producers do need to clearly label if it’s multifloral or monofloral Mānuka, so that’s an easy one to check. As mentioned, multifloral Mānuka has been blended with other nectar sources near the hives.
If the jar is clear, you could see the colour of the honey. If it’s very dark (like molasses) it’s probably very old and won’t taste good or be as good for you. If the honey hasn’t been creamed, you should be able to see if it’s separated or is particularly thin and runny. This can happen if there’s too much moisture in the honey and it can ferment, and not in a fun way. This doesn’t taste or smell good and simply means that the honey frames were harvested before the bees had time to dry them off. They’re amazing little workers and it’s best to let them do their thing before removing excess honey boxes.
