The Australian manuka industry says the UK Intellectual Property Office’s decision to reject New Zealand’s application to trademark the words “manuka honey” is “a victory for common sense”. This article first appeared in the January/February 2022 edition of Food & Drink Business.
In mid-December 2021, The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) ruled “manuka honey” was purely a descriptive term for a type of honey and had widespread use in regions outside of New Zealand.
For chair of the Australian Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) Paul Callander, the decision was both right and fair.
“The term manuka has been used in Australia since the 1800s and the Australian industry has invested significantly for decades in manuka honey science, research and marketing. It would be deeply unfair – and financially devastating – to deny that reality,” Callander says.
In reaching its decision, the IPO accepted there was significant evidence that the general public understands manuka honey is not produced exclusively in New Zealand, but rather originates from a number of places including Australia.
Manuka honey originates from bees that collect the nectar of a particular kind of shrub of the Leptospermum genus, with Australia home to 85 of the 87 known Leptospermum species worldwide. Australia has produced manuka honey since European honeybees were introduced in the 1820s.
“The IPO decision would be welcomed by the entire Australian industry, which extends beyond manuka producers to the thousands of individuals and organisations engaged with manuka honey through research, logistics, manufacturing and sales,” Callander says.
“The Australian industry has fought hard to protect its rightful interests in this growing market and will continue to do so. This decision is an important one that we hope will be followed by other jurisdictions where trademark certification has been sought.”
The same group of New Zealand producers has sought to trademark the term in the US, Europe, New Zealand, and China. Callander says so far, no region has agreed to register the trademark.
Market potential
By 2027, the international manuka honey market is forecast to be worth around $1.27 billion in annual trade, with Australia supplying a significant percentage. Manuka honey products can sell for between $300-500 per kilo, depending on levels of MGO+ activity.
Callander anticipates sales will continue to rise rapidly, with strong demand for consumption as well as accelerating growth as an ingredient in medicinal and wellbeing products.
“The market offers vast potential for local innovation and manufacturing,” he adds.
Manuka beekeepers are at the centre of the industry, but it extends beyond production to research, manufacturing and formulation, distribution, logistics, marketing, and sales.
Research leader
Callander says Australia has led the world in the research and commercialisation of therapeutic products using Australian manuka honey for more than 20 years, work which has underpinned the now global interest in manuka honey from both Australia and New Zealand.
“The domestic industry has funded extensive research, with six different universities investigating the product’s health benefits and other attributes. As new clinical trials provide both evidence and safety to support health claims, there is enormous opportunity to develop, manufacture and take to global markets these high value products,” he says.
The AMHA believes New Zealand producers are trying unreasonably to monopolise a purely descriptive term for commercial gain. The term “manuka honey” is no more than the name of a product and the plant source that it comes from, and not suitable for trademarking, it argues.
“Roughly a quarter of the nation’s commercial beekeepers are engaged in manuka production, and destruction of that business would have flow-on effects to their other beekeeping work, including pollination services to Australia’s fruit and vegetable farmers,” Callander adds.
A decision from the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office is expected early this year.
