Government Moves to Fund and Form an “Alliance” of Honey and Bee Groups

As leading beekeeping groups move closer to reshaping into a commercial-beekeeper-centric organisation, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is making their own plans, behind the scenes, for a “New Zealand Honey and Bee Alliance”. Here’s what we know, and what those at the coalface of reorganising Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) and New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI) make of the government’s move.

“It is an effort by MPI to help the industry fulfil its potential. So, we are listening,” ApiNZ CEO Karin Kos says of recent discussions led by MPI programme director, export growth, Terry Copeland.

There’s been no formal public announcement of their plans, but the Ministry for Primary Industries have began approaching honey and beekeeping groups regarding forming an ‘alliance’, with a small amount of funding potentially available from government coffers.

While the ministry has made no formal, public announcement surrounding what documents circulated to apiculture industry leaders refer to as ‘New Zealand Honey and Bee Alliance (NZHBA)’, those documents suggest it has been in the works since March when a proposal was completed and presented to MPI director general Ray Smith. That work plan suggests ‘funding and a programme commitment by 30 April’ and in May engagement with sector groups ‘to build trust and demonstrate MPI support and commitment’.

The stated objective of the Alliance would be ‘growing a profitable and resilient honey and beekeeping sector’ with the purpose being ‘to bring together the key honey and beekeeping groups to effectively connect the sector and value chain to commission projects to grow knowledge, value, and confidence which will take the sector to $1billion in sales with increased returns for all participants’.

That $1billion in export sales for the honey sector has been a long-held pipe-dream of the government, first floated in 2016 as hoped to be achieved by 2028, and more latterly by ApiNZ in the February 2024-released industry strategy Thriving Together: Futureproofing New Zealand Apiculture 2024–2030, where 2030 was the target date. To date only one year’s calendar year exports for honey have reached even half the billion-dollar target, peaking at $503million in 2020 and coming in at $480million in the most recent full year.

Terry Copeland, MPI programme director, export growth, has been meeting with beekeeping groups to garner interest in the new alliance.

To reach the lofty goal of more than doubling honey’s export returns MPI proposes to fund and support a three-year alliance project, after which time the honey and bee industry would create a framework and self-funded model to co-ordinate themselves.

“We are looking at ways to support beekeepers and honey producers to thrive by proposing an alliance of organisations to come together to set some agreed goals, and commission possible projects to support the growth of a resilient and profitable sector,” Copeland explained via a short statement when prompted on the matter.

“This is at the very early stages of thinking.  We will provide advice to ministers in due course once we’ve talked more with the sector.”

Proposed NZHBA members, as per the documents circulated to ApiNZ and NZBI at least, would be representatives from those two beekeeping groups, New Zealand Bee Health and Biosecurity (formerly the AFB Management Agency), UMF Honey Association, Mānuka Charitable Trust, New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated and MPI as the “funder and project driver”. MPI is also outlined as funding a 0.5 full-time equivalent position to help deliver on objectives.

“I got the sense from talking to MPI that it is not firmed up or finalised,” Kos says of the plans.

“There is possibility and potential and they are asking ‘how can we help?’. That is a positive thing.”

ApiNZ chief executive Karin Kos says they are listening to MPI’’s new alliance proposal but that any new beekeeping group’s members would ultimately need to decide on how they work within an alliance.

MPI raised such a concept with ApiNZ “several months ago” Kos says, and “it has obviously been bubbling away”. For NZBI the contact from MPI on the matter recently came out of the blue though, as they and ApiNZ are in the final throws of delivering a potential constitution for a new commercial-beekeeper-centric industry organisation. That is where Fletcher and NZBI’s focus remains – “The dull important work of creating the infrastructure in which an industry can thrive,” the advisor says. “That’s what we want to do.”

MPI’s decision to now step in and seek to support industry organisation seems delayed, given that ApiNZ has recorded several years of financial losses and its board suggested it be dissolved in March 2025, only for members to vote for survival. A search for additional funding was sought, with the Honey Industry Trust coming to the rescue with $150,000 in July 2025, with that funding to soon expire. It’s better late than never though as far as Kos is concerned regarding any industry assistance, and MPI couldn’t be expected to fund an industry body directly. She believes the intention would be for any new commercial beekeeping group to sit around the alliance table.

“Our new organisation has a work programme to develop and how that will play at the Alliance table will be ultimately up to members. I don’t see this as replacing associations or their work programmes,” Kos says.

However, Fletcher has concerns that the NZHBA could both derail the work to reform an organisation to serve beekeepers, and at what he sees as a top-down approach, calling the rolling out of the billion-dollar goal again as “ridiculous and fanciful”.  He stresses his commitment is to delivering a new commercial-beekeeping group before all else.

Ian Fletcher, advisor to NZ Beekeeping Inc and weary that a new honey and bee alliance proposed by MPI does not encroach on efforts to reform industry representation for beekeepers.

“There has to be realism around productivity and profitability before we go anywhere,” Fletcher says.

“This (NZHBA) is a superstructure without any foundation. The real issues, which we are very happy to work with anyone on, relate to the profitability and productivity of the industry. It is biosecurity, it is costs structures – regulatory and compliance – and it is the underlying issues of bee health. That list of issues is well-known and straightforward, and largely agreed. What we need to do is finish the job we started, which is to put together a consensus around a national beekeeping organisation to pursue that agenda. So that we can engage with government and others up the supply chain from that kind of standpoint.”

Kos is less sceptical about the parallel discussions though and says she doesn’t believe it will impact the new organisation and what it is hoping to achieve.

According to the outlining document possible projects to be discussed around the Alliance table – which it would be hoped ‘at least two alliance member groups (and hopefully more) will contribute input and direction per project’ – could be focused on biosecurity protection and action plans; establishing industry standards for pollination; and science to underpin health claims, among others.

MPI director general Ray Smith

While discussions with the various beekeeping, honey and even – apparently – kiwifruit industry groups could influence how the NZHBA concept progresses, next steps have already been documented and distributed to those industry leaders – and it’s moving quick. A launch event of an initial “roundtable hui” with the support of Smith and Minister for Agriculture Todd McClay is earmarked for July.

So, while the government could be seen as very late to the party in its efforts to support an industry essential to several pillars of the economy, they appear to have arrived. Exactly what they are bringing to the gathering, and how they are collectively received, remains to be seen.