Our Story
The Forest Gold story is a journey that began over 45 years ago when people from different backgrounds with diverse skills came together to build something unique - a small village of likeminded people, working together to meet the needs of all. The beautiful Haupiri River Valley is now home to our children and families.
When we first came to this remote Wilderness, we stumbled across the unique honey this isolated region could provide and for many years enjoyed the amazing health benefits this honey had to offer. Realizing just how special this honey was we started sharing this with our friends and neighbors. It wasn’t long before honey was being sold locally, nationally and now around the world.
Forest Gold Honey Ltd are producers of premium New Zealand honey. Setup in 2015, the Forest Gold Honey company grew rapidly till now we are extracting and processing over 250 ton of honey annually.
Here on the shores of Lake Haupiri we are situated in one of, if not the most untouched and pristine regions found in New Zealand, and we can honestly say there is nowhere else in the world like it.
Due to the huge diversity of native floral sources we can produce a wide range of unique honey types including Manuka, Kamahi, Rata, Clover, Honey Dew and Wildflower.
The West Coast of the South Island is world renowned for its natural beauty and due to its rugged, untamed landscapes it is a place of few people, isolated from the influence of modern pollution. We know our setting is the key factor to why our honey is so unique and is set apart from other honeys. Due to this, we are able to produce pure, quality honey that is second to none.
Our Values
At Forest Gold Honey, our team is our family, equipped with exceptional skills, vision and diverse backgrounds. Our business is built on principles of trust, friendship, honesty and integrity, the traditional values that are part of our heritage. We are enthusiastic and passionate about our work. We like to bring innovation and creativity to this sector, as well as being motivated by a care for people, especially for our children as they are the future, working together for the good of others to achieve exceptional results.
Quality Control And Processing
Unlike many Manuka honey companies Forest Gold Honey owns the full process from the hive to the jar – from our beehives to extraction and processing facility. This we believe is crucial to ensuring that the honey we produce is guaranteed to meet quality and food safety standards as well as retaining its potent natural properties that make it so revered around the world.
Here at Forest Gold Honey we have a “Hands Off” approach to our processing operation. We do not pasteurize our honey as this kills the enzymes and amino acids that are naturally in honey.
Manuka honey is a precious and delicate resource that requires careful handling and processing to ensure its special natural properties are retained during the extraction and packing process. Our aim is to produce quality honey, with as little change from the source to the jar as possible. With this in mind, we designed and developed a processing system that is unique to our company that requires minimal heating and with as little human influence as possible to ensure that we offer the up most natural products.
In order to provide a guarantee that what is in the jar is true to label, the honey is put through extensive quality assurance checks assuring it complies with all New Zealand export standards, New Zealand Food safety Authority and the Ministry Of Primary Industry requirements. We also use the laboratories of Analytica, Hills and Eurofins to confirm and independently certify for the activity levels of all batches.
