20 minutes with

Harron Uddin HIDDEN HONEY

Located on the west coast of New Zealand, Hidden Honey was created out of passion and care for sustainability, love of the outdoors, beekeeping and nature by brothers and a group of close-knit friends.

CEO and co-founder of Hidden Honey, Haroon Uddin, said that after learning about the impacts of global warming, the damaging environmental effects of pesticides, and the rapid decline of bee colonies worldwide, the group decided to become part of the solution.

Uddin, co-founder John Green and his sons, Hugh, James, and Daniel, and friends Morgan Dearsley and William Bulcraig have spent the last six years learning as much as they possibly could about beekeeping. With the bee colonies based in Taranaki, Uddin emphasised that Hidden Honey only takes surplus honey from each hive to ensure the bees have enough stores for winter.

The group harvests honey in small batches, keeping their practices traditional, without using harmful pesticides and keeping away from modern agriculture.

“We have planted over one million manuka plants on over 3000 acres in the beautiful mountainside of South Taranaki, Waverly,” said Uddin.

A boundary of native bush protects the plantation, and each beehive is helicoptered into the remote terrain, where the bees are left to make honey with as little human interference as possible.

“We simply leave them to it, the way nature intended.”

Batches are hand-pressed and meticulously tested to ensure no contaminants, simultaneously retaining the honey’s unique and exquisite flavour profile and natural benefits.

Hidden now has well over 1300 beehives producing high-end premium Manuka Honey yearly, with the group having launched their retail brand of honey, which revolved around its ethos of family and sustainability, creating honey that is 100 percent natural, where its production and beekeeping process are net carbon neutral, and each product is glyphosate-free.

Uddin continued that the group were and has continued to be passionate about having a brand that reflects their values and that they could be proud of.

Hidden Honey’s beekeeping and honeyproducing methods allow them to create one of the purest raw kinds of Mānuka honey globally. The plantation of young Mānuka bushes helps to create honey in harmony with mother nature.

Farm Director Hugh Green believes that the approach the team at Hidden Honey has taken to create honey is felt by the bees and reflected in the honey produced.

“In each hive, honeybees are given different tasks for the success of their colony,” said Green.

Hidden Honey’s role is a part of that process, the collaboration between the bees and the Hidden Honey team producing some of the world’s finest honey. n