Māori crackdown on ‘deeply offensive’ fake mānuka
Members of the Mānuka Charitable Trust (MCT) are calling out the sale of so-called ‘Australian manuka’ on the global marketplace as ‘deeply offensive’ cultural misappropriation, with plans in motion for a new trademark intended to protect the authenticity and provenance of one of New Zealand’s biggest exports.
It is the MCT’s position that true mānuka honey is only harvested from the specific species of Leptospermum scoparium which populates New Zealand’s North and South Islands and which researchers have found differs genetically from the Leptospermum scoparium growing on Australian soil. Kristen Kohere, chair of the operational board which implements the strategies of eight MCT trustees (each one a senior representative of a Māori tribe and a guardian of native flora and fauna), explains that due to these strong DNA differences, any honey produced outside of New Zealand is not genuine mānuka and therefore should not be marketed as such.
Rather than ‘hop on the coat-tails of your cousin across the Tasman [Sea]’, Kohere suggests Australian producers ‘make the best of their own provenance’. “They’ve got beautiful landscapes, beautiful indigenous trees. They should not misappropriate someone else’s product but be genuine to themselves and authentic to their own country. They need to recognize how good their native biodiversity is and bring that distinctiveness to the world. We’d also like to see them honour their indigenous people and knowledge systems, which are hugely interesting.”
Carrier of the life principle
The latter point touches on a key issue for the MCT and its reason for pursuing the fight against fake mānuka: the word itself is intrinsically woven into Māori history and culture, evolved over thousands of years from New Zealand’s Eastern Polynesian roots. “It has meaning to us; it’s a carrier of the life principle. That’s the meaning of the word. We will continue to enforce the view that the name pertains specifically to our endemic species.”
Kohere explains that beyond the fact that Australian trees and the honey they produce are incomparable to New Zealand’s due to scientifically established genetic differentiation, the act of applying a name ‘in the pursuit of commercial gain’ shows an ‘arrogance of assumption’ on Australia’s part. “That was enough to bring together all the significant leaders of Māoridom … and for the last six years to knuckle down and attempt to fight this, to raise awareness for consumers that true mānuka comes from New Zealand and nowhere else. Trade laws were not set up to address cultural misappropriation.
“The other thing that we think should be noted is that the Aboriginal people of Australia themselves have been completely walked over because they will have their own traditional names for plants in the same species that are endemic to Australia. It’s old world behaviour that I don’t think consumers would agree with [but] our laws are yet to catch up.”
Drawing comparisons with Greek feta and French Champagne, she says the MCT would welcome a geographical indicator being assigned to mānuka to preserve its name, provenance, production methods and unique characteristics. “We think that’s the ideal fit for us. Unfortunately, [in] New Zealand … only our wines have managed to obtain GI protection; we haven’t had that system applied to our food categories.” Kohere believes such commercial recognition for regional produce represents a mutual respect which must be embraced globally. “That maturity has yet to reach the exporters of Australian honey. It’s deeply offensive, it’s wrong and we will continue to fight them.”
Badge of authentication
Standing against food fraud is a process which takes time, and a long road lies ahead before a trademark can be formalized; licensees must agree to the terms and due diligence must be done to ensure existing quality guidelines and standards can be smoothly transferred to a new ‘badge of authentication for genuine mānuka honey’.
The MCT plans to spread ‘the story of mānuka from a cultural perspective’ to industry stakeholders, distributors and retailers far and wide. “Our ambition is that the wider story of the mānuka [tree] and mānuka honey becomes part of the customer experience.”
By Rosie Greenaway, editor