South Taranaki’s Egmont Honey plans to meet a growing appetite for mānuka honey in the US with an expansion from online into bricks and mortar in the huge market.

The business founded by father and son team Toby and James Annabell in 2008, but now controlled by US$20bn Singaporean hedge fund CDH Investments, sells its honey, sourced from more than 4,000 hives, in supermarkets domestically.

Around 90% of revenue come from exporting its range of health, skincare, and honey products to more than 20 countries.

These include China, Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, as well as Australia where distribution covered circa 700 Coles and 900 Woolworths stores. The UK was its biggest market, with New Zealand accounting for about 10% of overall sales.

However, it was a growing appetite for mānuka honey in the US that the company was now looking to tap into.

Egmont had been selling into the US online through Amazon for a couple of years, with its 250g jars of MGO 50+ multifloral raw and unpasteurised mānuka honey. It added the iHerb online platform late last year, and was now looking to make the move into bricks and mortar.

“We’re seeing big retailers now stocking mānuka honey, so you’ve got Costco’s, Walmart, places like this that are huge store footprints and exposure, are now exposing new consumers to mānuka honey,” chief executive James Annabell said.

He added the company was currently in talks with a number of retailers – including some well-known names – and was “making good headway”.

“To have exposure offline and under key banners, or key brands, would be huge for us.”

He added it was business as usual for the firm, despite an ongoing sales process.

Macquarie Bank was appointed around this time last year to offload CDH-controlled group The Better Health Company, whose brands include Egmont Honey and vitamin label GO Healthy.

At the time, the bankers said The Better Health Company would record $137m revenue and $30m EBITDA in the year to March 2021.

They said revenue would be split four ways: 26% would come from selling GO Vitamins in New Zealand, another 16% would be made selling the same products in Australia, and 28% – around $38m – would be from the Egmont Honey.

The remaining 30% was The Better Health Company’s New Zealand health manufacturing arm, which produces vitamins, minerals and supplements.

Source: 14th February 2022 By Jonathan Mitchell | jonathan@foodticker.co.nz | @foodtickernz