December 04, 2014
China push has sweet reward
Maori business development agency Poutama Trust hopes a trade trip to China by its honey cluster will lead to greater Maori integration in the sector.
Chief Executive Richard Jones says the trip through Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and China was an eye-opener for the participants, who included not just Maori honey producers but Maori landowners and investors.
He says honey producers on their own don’t have the scale or financial resources to service the markets.
"What we know by linking Maori landowners, where the manuka grows on their land and then Maori asset holding companies or Maori groups who have got treaty settlements who have got capital, if we can link all those three groupings and to get them talking amongst each other about, do we as Maori want to come together and have our own honey brand, or position ourselves strongly in the New Zealand manuka honey industry," he says.
Richard Jones says the cluster is also working with other agencies like Callaghan Innovation on ways to get more value from honey.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD JONES CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjQ3Mjc=
Copyright © 2014, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com