Our Company
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The name of our company is taken from New Zealand's only live volcanic island. The Maori name for the island is 'Te Puia o Whakaari', meaning 'The Dramatic Volcano.'
The English explorer, Lieutenant James Cook, observed and named it White Island on 1st October 1769 because it always appeared to be in a cloud of white steam. Its official name is Whakaari/White Island although it is known by visitors as White Island.
The volcano sits 40-50 km off the coast of Whakatane and about 30km off the coast of Te Kaha where many of our hives are located. The island is about 2km in diameter and the land above the sea rises to above 300 metres. Thirteen hundred metres of the volcano lies under the ocean.
According to local tour operators, White Island Tours of Whakatane, "Walking on White Island is like walking on the moon. Virtually no vegetation survives the harsh acidic environment inside the crater walls. Instead, lush beds of yellow and white sulphur crystals grow amongst hissing, steaming, bubbling fumaroles".
Whakaari International has developed the "Ora" brand as its flagship. The word "Ora" means health and well-being and is an appropriate word to describe the healthy qualities of manuka honey. The brand we have developed is based on the koropepe design which portrays a coiled snake-like or eel appearance with a bird-like head. The design sends a clear signal of the Maori involvement in the production of our product and the association with the source of manuka honey that the local Maori communities have had for many centuries.
Whakaari International currently sells the majority of its honey in bulk however its bottled Ora products are growing in volume each year. With the commissioning of our new bottling plant in Whakatane, we have been able to centralise our bottling and distribution and offer contract bottling services to other businesses.
Over the next short while Whakaari International will be developing other products to reflect the growing demand for Manuka and other New Zealand honey products.
