Science sells

Would you spread Mānuka honey on your toast or on a cut on your leg? Scientific evidence shows that Mānuka honey wound dressings have good healing properties. Mānuka honey will soon be available for use in our kitchens, hospitals, and first aid kits!

(Special thanks to the Department of Conservation for providing photos for this clip)

Transcript

Brett Hewlett (Comvita)

We’re selling nature basically. We’re selling a slice of nature. When people consume our products, they’re expecting that they’re getting the purest and the best products. Nature provides a broad spectrum of healing properties and that is the way things were intended to be.

If we’re going to sell Mānuka honey product as a wound healing product we need to be able to take it to a scientific level and have credibility with doctors, clinicians, and hospitals around the world. I think that honey is not really taken seriously. It’s seen to be too folksy. It’s seen to be something that you put on your toast. I think for a clinician or a professional person working in a hospital environment that’s dealing with very real and very serious situations, that they would like something that is scientifically well backed and well supported.

Scott Coulter (Comvita)

Science to our business is incredibly important. When we sell things we want to talk about how they can heal people and - unless you have the scientific evidence to do that - then you can’t make those claims. In the medical market it’s really important to do clinical trials .

Brett Hewlett (Comvita)

It’s just an enormous opportunity in this whole biotech space - using naturally-derived products sourced from New Zealand. It’s just a beautiful formula you know, from a marketing perspective, from a technology perspective, and from the scale of the opportunity around the world. It’s just so exhilarating.