Creating More Value from New Zealand Mānuka Honey

A PledgeMe campaign supporting the next generation of value-added bee products

New Zealand Mānuka honey is one of our most distinctive natural resources, but the long-term opportunity for beekeepers is not simply to produce more honey — it is to create more value from every kilogram produced.

Quantum Technologies Limited is preparing a PledgeMe campaign to help commercialise a New Zealand-developed technology that uses Mānuka honey as the starting material for higher-value bioactive ingredients and products.

The opportunity for beekeepers

In parts of the current market, Mānuka honey may return producers around $30/kg, depending on grade, quality, season and commercial arrangements.

Our commercialisation objective is to create new value-added applications capable of supporting a potential raw-material value of approximately $50/kg for suitable Mānuka honey used within the technology.

That represents a potential increase of around: $20 additional value per kilogram

or approximately: 67% greater raw-material value compared with $30/kg.

The $50/kg figure is a commercial target rather than a guaranteed future purchase price. The purpose of the project is to develop markets and manufacturing pathways that could justify higher returns for suitable Mānuka honey by converting it into higher-value ingredients rather than competing solely in the conventional bulk honey market.

From honey to high-value ingredient

Quantum Technologies Limited has developed MEL-RJPI™, a Mānuka honey-derived royal jelly protein isolate.

Instead of viewing Mānuka honey only as a finished food product, our approach uses it as a New Zealand biological raw material from which higher-value functional ingredients can be produced.

Potential markets include:

• Premium skincare and cosmetic ingredients
• Healthy-aging and wellbeing products
• Apitherapy products
• Topical formulations
• Bee-derived bioactive ingredients
• Research and biotechnology applications
• International white-label ingredient opportunities

The goal is to build additional downstream value from the same raw material produced by New Zealand beekeepers.

Why this matters

New Zealand beekeepers carry much of the cost and risk involved in producing mānuka honey — hives, land access, labour, transport, extraction, compliance, weather and seasonal variability.

For the sector to remain sustainable, increasing the value returned to the producer is important.

Our vision is therefore:

Mānuka Honey → New Zealand Science → High-Value Ingredient → Global Products → Greater Value Back to Producers

Rather than relying only on selling more kilograms of honey, the project aims to make each kilogram more valuable.

For example, an increase from $30/kg to a potential $50/kg raw-material value would represent:

• 1,000 kg: potential additional raw-material value of $20,000
• 5,000 kg: potential additional raw-material value of $100,000
• 10,000 kg: potential additional raw-material value of $200,000
• 100,000 kg: potential additional raw-material value of $2 million

These figures illustrate the economic effect of a $20/kg uplift and are not forecasts or guaranteed producer returns.

What the PledgeMe campaign will support

The campaign is intended to help move the technology through its next stage of commercial development, including:

• Manufacturing scale-up
• Scientific validation
• Product and ingredient development
• Market development
• Commercial partnerships
• Development of New Zealand and international customers
• Building a scalable supply chain involving New Zealand Mānuka honey producers

A central objective is to demonstrate that biotechnology and value-added manufacturing can create additional demand and additional value for New Zealand-produced Mānuka honey.

An invitation to New Zealand beekeepers

We would like beekeepers to be part of this journey.

Support does not necessarily mean contributing financially to the PledgeMe campaign. Beekeepers can also help by:

• Following and sharing the campaign
• Providing industry feedback
• Introducing potential collaborators
• Discussing future Mānuka honey supply
• Helping communicate the opportunity within the beekeeping community
• Participating in the development of a higher-value New Zealand bee-products industry

The long-term opportunity is bigger than one product.

It is about creating a model where New Zealand science adds value to New Zealand Mānuka honey and more of that value has the potential to flow back through the supply chain to the people who produce it.

Learn more

Quantum Technologies Limited
OH BEE HAVE™ – Empowering Healing
MEL-RJPI™ – Mānuka honey-derived royal jelly protein isolate

PledgeMe campaign information and link will be provided for circulation when the campaign is live.

Contact:
Dr Keryn Johnson
CEO, Quantum Technologies Limited

+64 22 199 8782