Egmont Honey – 22,000 Hives and Scope to Grow
One of the country’s largest honey exporters recently became the country’s largest beekeeping entity as Egmont Honey acquired much of the in-receivership Tweeddale’s Honey of Taihape. It takes their hive holding from approximately 5000 to around 22,000 and the chief executive says they expect to only get bigger, but are determined to avoid the pitfalls of “corporate beekeeping”.
In March, after 81 years and three generations of family ownership Tweeddale’s Honey was forced to receivership, owing nearly $13million to lenders Bank of New Zealand. Now, following a thorough due diligence process in September, New Plymouth based, but 90 percent Chinese-owned, Egmont Honey has added the around 17,000 beehives, associated beekeeping and honey extraction equipment, a fleet of vehicles, and Tweeddale’s 2025-26 crop of honey to their operations.
“I have never wanted to own a significant number of beehives, because every hive is a potential headache and we carry the agricultural risk within the business,” says Egmont Honey chief executive James Annabell, who has built significant global honey markets primarily off the back of buying in honey from Kiwi beekeepers.
“At the same time, while we have done well off having a good number of loyal suppliers, including Tweeddale’s Honey, you need to predict the future and adapt. I guess that is what we are doing.”
Annabell says “timing is everything” and as recently as last month Apiarist’s Advocate reported on Annabell returning from a visit to key international markets with a warning that, due to the rising prices being requested by beekeepers, sales channels were at risk of being lost.
“Owning beehives two or three years ago would not have made sense. Owning beehives now makes absolute sense. You can only feel for Don and Conchita Tweeddale, because the market has swung significantly. Unfortunately, it was all a little too late for them.”
Changing Hands
The purchase price of the Tweeddale’s assets has not been disclosed, but a receivers’ report published in May listed almost $8.5million of “property, plant and equipment” plus $410,000 in motor vehicles.
Overseas Investment Office approval was not required for the acquisition of the beekeeping assets. Land associated with Tweeddale’s Honey has largely stayed with previous owners, husband and wife Don and Conchita Tweeddale. Egmont Honey is now leasing the former Tweeddale’s Honey headquarters and honey processing facility in Taihape, and hive-placement agreements with several rural properties owned by the Tweeddales have been struck.
Annabell has personally bought the 1657ha Makopua Station in the Taihape area which was developed by Tweeddale’s Honey over an eight-year period with high-UMF mānuka plants.
“I am really excited about that,” Annabell says of the purchase.
“I am from a sheep and beef background and it means a lot to me to get back into land. There are a number of interests on the property, including hunting and carbon farming.”
Tweeddale Connection Continues
Don Tweeddale, having spent almost 50 years at the helm of Tweeddale’s Honey, remains involved in the new business in a part-time role assisting honey processing. He is joined there by daughter Kim Squires, while son Steven Tweeddale has returned to work within the significant hive holding spread across the Central North Island. Steven’s brother Mark has left the business, but otherwise all the staff have been retained by Egmont Honey according to Annabell.
“We are happy to be involved with Egmont Honey and James,” Don Tweeddale says.
“We are especially happy for all the family members and staff who continue to be employed. I wish them well for the future of their investment.”
As for his own “semi-retirement”, as he nears 80 years of age, Tweeddale says it is time he “slowed down a bit”, but it is important to him to stay active, and involved in operations which his parents began when he was just three years of age. He first took up beekeeping at 10 years-old.
“It will be good to have a little bit more time off to enjoy myself, but I am still focused on the wellbeing of the business and physical work, as well as mental,” Tweeddale says.
Bringing More Honey In-House
In recent years Egmont Honey had been a major buyer of the honey produced at Tweeddale’s, with the Taihape business their largest supplier. There’s an irony in the honey production business not being able to make ends meet and, ultimately, being consumed by its honey buyer. Annabell says it was “market conditions” which saw the Taihape business forced to receivership.
“We were one of many honey buyers and the reason we were getting their honey was because we were providing better payment terms and a better price than the four others they tried to sell too,” he says.
Egmont Honey process approximately 2500 tonnes of honey a year according to the CEO, while Don Tweeddale has previously estimated production off their hives to have been 800 to 1000 tonnes “in a normal year”, meaning the Tweeddale’s acquisition could bring over a third of Egmont Honey’s current annual requirements in-house. Annabell says external suppliers will “continue to be the backbone of this business” though.
“Our goal has always been to build long-term relationships and I have retailers here wanting to do three-year deals, should the industry want to get on board with it,” he says.
An “Informed” Decision
While the timing may have been right from Egmont Honey’s perspective, it was not a simple decision the chief executive says and considerable due diligence was undertaken.
“It wasn’t necessarily an easy decision but in the end it was an informed decision. After our offer was accepted we carried out significant due diligence and audited every single beehive, and item of equipment. We ensured we had a certain number of hives covered under contract, meaning contracts with landowners now with agreements with Egmont Honey, across mānuka and non-mānuka sites," Annabell says.
The CEO says Egmont Honey staff, including himself, his father Toby Annabell and head beekeeper Mark Thomas, stayed in Taihape for over a week as they sought to inform their decision.
Egmont Honey, with the addition of several dozen former Tweeddale’s Honey employees, now employ in excess of 130 people between Taranaki, Taihape and, 130km north, Taumaranui. Since acquiring their new assets a staff recruitment drive has taken place and more than a dozen new employees added, from beekeepers, to truck drivers, to honey processing staff.
Annabell says while Egmont Honey may now be the biggest beekeeping business in New Zealand it is important they don’t become “corporate” beekeepers, “because we have seen in the past that beekeepers that get too large are not necessarily the best beekeepers”.
He says key to that is reducing the layers of management between field staff and the top level of the company. By himself staying “in a hotel above the Taihape pub for a week, in order to really get into the weeds of the business we were looking to acquire, to really understand it,” he believes the decision to buy at the price they have is sound.
“I really want to understand the business. As much as I can I don’t like to do things at arms-length. I like to be absolutely involved, to understand it, so then I can drive the strategy – think big, act small.”
The chief executive and business founder says that ‘think big, act small’ mantra has long guided behaviour at Egmont Honey and they now have a team he has absolute faith in, albeit a lot bigger team than just a month ago. There is room for further expansion too, with enough equipment acquired to house up to 9000 more hives, but that they will be taking a “crawl, walk, run” approach before such expansion.
“The Egmont Honey roller coaster continues,” Annabell says of the company that began, in earnest, with the launch of their honey brand in 2015.
“It is another chapter in a business that feels like it has been sprinting for the last 12 years, but I love it.”
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