Strategies for 'Greening' the New Zealand Honey Industry: An Evaluation of the Development of Organic and Other Standards

Abstract

The overall aim of this research programme is to examine the ‘greening’ of five sectors within NZ Horticultural production - kiwifruit, wine, squash, apples and honey. This study of the honey industry comes at the later stages of a 5-year programme of research into the differing strategies that horticultural industries are deploying to respond to ‘greening’ pressures in markets. In prior studies into the processed vegetable - (Campbell, 1996), kiwifruit (Campbell et al., 1997), sweetcorn (Coombes et al., 1998) and organic fresh fruit and vegetable (Coombes and Campbell, 1998) industries, various factors were identified which have created a new trading environment for horticultural exports. Specifically, an environment in which increasingly stringent ‘food safety’ and ‘environmentally enhanced’ criteria are applied to food exports is developing - both at the regulatory level and in the purchasing preferences of distributors and consumers (Campbell and Coombes, 1999). While the overall findings of prior industry studies have identified a general trend towards ‘greening’ exports, the pressures for greening are felt unevenly through horticultural sectors and levels of response have also varied significantly. The purpose of the current series of industry studies is to identify the current configuration of horticultural industries towards greening, and to identify the kinds of social and industry dynamics which are influencing industry strategies (or inhibiting the formation of such strategies) in each sector. Each report therefore serves as a benchmark for each industry that can then be used to assess the overall movement towards sustainable practices in NZ horticulture.