The Wild Story of Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey New Zealand’s manuka honey is celebrated for its unique healing properties and is in demand from London to Hollywood. This is the unusual history of an even more unusual honey. AfarBrad Japhe Save StoryRead when you’ve got time to spare. A honeybee collects pollen from the manuka bush flower. Courtesy of Shuttershock/M Rutherford. With all due respect to sauvignon blanc drinkers, New Zealand’s trendiest liquid export is something far sweeter than wine. Derived from the nectar of a native bush (Wleptospermum scoparium), manuka honey has stirred enthusiasm among health-conscious connoisseurs since the early ’80s, when a local scientist first confirmed that it possesses unique, antimicrobial properties. Now, the on-trend sweetener is finding mainstream appeal in the United States as a slightly more savory alternative to its domestic counterparts. The manuka industry was shipping around $40 million worth of honey a decade ago, and by 2017 that number had swelled to $270 million. As surprising as that boom has been, manuka’s...

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