Capilano relaunches into the UK, to the world’s biggest honey eaters

Australian honey packer-exporter Hive and Wellness is on a mission. 

It wants to showcase Australia’s incredible honey to the world through its market-leading Capilano brand, Australia’s favourite honey. 

It has all the right ingredients to get there. It has a strong foundation – founded by two brothers in Brisbane in 1953 – and the largest honey supply network in the Southern Hemisphere. 

As one of the largest suppliers of pure honey in the world, Capilano exports to 32 markets, including China, the US, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

Now, it has the UK firmly in its sights. The UK imports around 90% of its honey and is one of the world’s largest consumers of honey. 

Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, a boost to Capilano’s UK growth

The Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is levelling the playing field for Capilano. 

‘FTAs are a fantastic way to increase trade,’ says Joel Carlyon, Capilano’s General Manager International Sales and Marketing. He points to the successful outcome for honey in the FTA agreed with Japan that will remove tariffs by 2024. 

Capilano also wants to meet UK consumers’ appetite for pure, natural, healthy food products. 

Carlyon expects the taste and health properties of Capilano’s honey to appeal to UK consumers. 

‘According to CSIRO, Australia has the healthiest honeybees in the world,’ he says. ‘And healthier bees produce healthier honey containing more of the “good” bee enzymes and nutritional properties.’ 

Capilano’s honey is naturally dried by the bees and ripened in the hives. Unlike most honeys on the world’s markets, it has significantly less water content, and longer shelf life.  

Capilano sources its 100% pure Australian honey from over 800 Australian beekeeping families. ‘This ensures Capilano has the strongest ongoing supply of pure Australian honey in the industry,’ Carlyon adds.

The critical sweetener for our global food production

Honey, and the bees that create it, continues to be critical to our food ecosystem. One-third of the world’s food production depends on bees, and every third spoonful of food consumed depends on pollination. 

Honeybees that forage in Australia’s pristine national parks and forests produce natural antioxidants and enzymes. They include the antibacterial properties of Manuka honey and the prebiotic properties of honey from many eucalypt sources that have caramelised, buttery tones. Australia has the largest floral diversity compared with anywhere else on Earth, according to CSIRO. 

‘The success of honeybees in Australia is chiefly due to our unique native eucalypt forests, which provide pollen and nectar throughout the season, maximising hive health and nutrition.

‘Australia’s island existence and geographical isolation mean our honeybees survive without the complications of many of the honeybee diseases that require repeated pesticide and antibiotic treatments elsewhere in the world.

‘This makes our bees healthier and our honey ‘clean and green’, renowned as the best quality honey in the world from the healthiest bees in the world,’ says Dr Ben McKee, Capilano’s Chief Operating Officer. 

Dr McKee leads the testing agenda internationally to determine the authenticity of every batch of honey. This protects the industry, its retail partners and consumers.