What UMF Honey Association does

The Unique Mānuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA), operating as the UMF Honey Association, is an independent, membership-based certification body founded in 1998 and headquartered in New Zealand. The organization licenses beekeepers, processors, marketers, and exporters — currently 150+ member brands — to use its proprietary UMF™ quality mark, and operates a per-batch certification scheme verifying authenticity, potency, shelf life, and freshness of mānuka honey destined for over 60 countries. Its core technical offering is the UMF Four Factor Quality Testing system, which independently measures four compounds — methylglyoxal (MGO), Leptosperin, DHA, and HMF — and assigns UMF ratings from 5+ through 25+, corresponding to increasing potency levels tied to specific use cases from daily sweetener to high-potency therapeutic applications.

Revenue is generated through two streams: licensing fees paid by member brands authorized to apply the UMF™ mark to certified products, and per-batch certification services for laboratory testing. Beyond the core certification offering, the association operates several consumer-facing digital assets, including a batch-level certification search tool, a global stockist locator covering 60+ countries, a Mānuka Mastery short course for consumer education, and a centralized Mānuka Health Research Database aggregating peer-reviewed studies on mānuka honey's health properties. Supporting research collaborations, notably with the University of Waikato and a network of international institutions in Japan, Germany, England, and Wales, reinforce the scientific underpinnings of the UMF standard and feed the research database.

The association is structured as a non-profit trade association with no disclosed external institutional investment and no parent company; ownership and governance rest with the collective membership of licensed producers. Distribution of UMF-certified products occurs indirectly through licensed member brands reaching consumers via major Asian e-commerce platforms (JD.com, TMall, Kaola), Amazon in Singapore and Spain, regional pharmacy chains (e.g., Chemist Warehouse NZ), and specialty health retailers across the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. The organization itself runs a lean operation with a reported headcount of 1–10 employees, consistent with its standards-body function rather than direct honey manufacturing.

Name

UMF Honey Association

Legal name

Unique Mānuka Factor Honey Association

Website

https://umf.org.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The UMF Honey Association is a New Zealand-based, non-profit certification body founded in 1998 that licenses 150+ member brands to use its UMF™ quality mark for authentic New Zealand mānuka honey, serving beekeepers, processors, marketers, and exporters across 60+ countries through licensing and per-batch certification services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Quality Certification Services

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (541380)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Safety Certification Bodies (ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, BRCGS, SQF) (AFALAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Identity & Authenticity Verification for Label Accuracy (species, varietal, adulteration) (AFALAHAF)

Keywords

• Manuka honey certification
• Quality assurance testing
• UMF grading system
• Trademark licensing
• Honey authenticity verification

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Licensing Fees: The association licenses beekeepers, processors, marketers, and exporters to use the UMF quality mark. Licensed members must meet strict standards for purity, potency and quality.
2. Certification Services: Independent testing and certification services for mānuka honey batches to verify authenticity and assign UMF ratings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

UMF Honey Association is an independent, non-profit certification body that licenses beekeepers, processors, marketers, and exporters to use the UMF™ quality mark for New Zealand mānuka honey. It provides the UMF™ Four Factor Quality Testing service (measuring MGO, Leptosperin, DHA, and HMF) to independently verify the potency, authenticity, shelf life, and freshness of each honey batch, and assigns UMF™ ratings from 5+ to 25+.

Product overview

UMF Honey Association operates as a certification and standards body for New Zealand mānuka honey, offering the UMF™ Quality Certification System as its core offering. This includes the Four Factor Quality Testing service that independently verifies honey potency, authenticity, shelf life, and freshness. The association maintains a grading system (UMF™ 5+ to 25+) that consumers use to select appropriate honey strength. Supporting offerings include the Mānuka Health Research Database providing access to scientific studies, the Mānuka Mastery Short Course for consumer education, a Certification Search Tool for product verification, and a Stockist Locator. The association also licenses certified brands across various product types including lozenges, oral sprays, skincare, and infusion honey products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of WaikatocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with University of Waikato researchers on international research focused on mānuka honey's benefits, its natural components, and understanding New Zealand's unique mānuka tree.
• International Research InstitutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration with institutions from Japan, Germany, England, Wales and beyond on mānuka honey science and benefits.
• 150+ Licensed Member BrandscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLicensed beekeepers, processors, marketers and exporters authorized to use the UMF quality mark and sell certified mānuka honey products globally.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• SQF Institute: Global food safety and quality certification program (part of FMI) used by food producers and retailers worldwide. SQF is a broad incumbent food safety certification body comparable to UMF in providing trust marks, though at a category-agnostic level rather than honey-specific.
• SGS: Global leader in inspection, verification, testing, and certification services across food, agricultural, and consumer goods. SGS is a broad incumbent that offers food authenticity and quality testing at global scale, potentially competing with UMF for high-volume certification work and offering an alternative standard to premium honey importers.
• Bureau Veritas: Global testing, inspection, and certification company with extensive agri-food capabilities including food authenticity, quality assurance, and supply-chain verification. Bureau Veritas is a broad incumbent comparable to UMF in offering independent certification services, though it operates across all food categories rather than specializing in honey.
• Eurofins Scientific: International group of laboratories providing food, environmental, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic testing services, including honey authenticity and adulteration testing. Eurofins is a broad incumbent offering laboratory testing capabilities that overlap with UMF's Four Factor Quality Testing.
• Intertek: Global quality assurance provider offering food testing, certification, and auditing services worldwide. Intertek competes in the same food certification space as UMF, particularly for retailers and importers seeking independent verification of honey and other premium food claims.
• NSF International: U.S.-based public health and safety organization providing food safety certification, testing, and auditing services across the global food supply chain. NSF is a broad incumbent comparable to UMF in the food safety certification space, with much broader category coverage.

Direct peers

• Oritain: New Zealand-founded forensic science company that verifies the origin and authenticity of food and natural products (including honey) using chemical fingerprinting. Oritain is a direct peer because it competes in honey authentication — UMF's core four-factor authenticity test (Leptosperin) overlaps directly with Oritain's origin-verification science.
• AsureQuality: New Zealand-owned food quality assurance and certification company providing independent testing, inspection, and certification across food and primary industries. AsureQuality is the most direct peer to UMFHA: both are NZ-based independent bodies certifying food authenticity, safety, and origin for export markets, and both operate on licensing/certification revenue models serving global supply chains.

Others

• Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ): Industry body representing New Zealand's beekeeping and apiculture sector, supporting research, advocacy, and industry standards. ApiNZ is an adjacent ecosystem participant — not a direct certification competitor but an influential industry organization in the same NZ mānuka value chain that UMF certifies.

Regional players

• True Source Honey: U.S.-based industry initiative that certifies the origin and traceability of honey to combat fraud and adulteration in the North American market. True Source Honey is a regional peer addressing the same honey authenticity problem as UMF, but operates primarily in the U.S. rather than globally.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/umfha
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10270240
• Instagraminstagram.com/umfmanukahoney

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UMF Honey Association