Raw honey in New Zealand: what it means, where to buy it, what it costs
What does “raw honey” mean in New Zealand?
There is no legal definition of “raw” honey in New Zealand, so the word on a label is the producer's own description rather than a regulated claim. It usually means minimally heated and coarsely filtered. Because it is undefined, the useful move is to ask what was actually done to the honey.
The word is unregulated here
New Zealand regulates a great deal about honey — what may be sold as mānuka, how food is labelled, what health claims may be made. It does not define “raw”. Two jars both labelled raw may have been treated quite differently, and neither producer has broken a rule.
What producers usually mean
- Not pasteurised, and not heated much beyond the temperature of the hive.
- Strained or coarsely filtered to remove wax and bee parts, rather than fine-filtered to a polished clarity.
- Not blended with honey from other sources or other seasons.
What heating and filtering actually do
Heat thins honey so it can be pumped and filtered quickly, and it delays crystallisation so jars look better on a shelf for longer. It also drives off volatile aromatic compounds. That is why a gently handled single-source honey tastes markedly more of its flower than a heavily processed one, and why heavily filtered honey tends to stay liquid.
Fine filtering removes pollen along with everything else. Pollen is what allows a laboratory to identify the floral source, so heavily filtered honey is harder to verify.
Better questions than “is it raw”
- What temperature was it held at, and for how long?
- Was it strained or fine-filtered?
- Is it from one site and one season, or blended?
- What is the floral source, and how is that established?
A producer who knows their honey will answer all four without difficulty. A seller who cannot answer any of them is reselling someone else's drum.
Some packers answer these questions with numbers instead of the word. Airborne Honey, for example, publishes heat-damage (HMF) and pollen figures and lets you trace a jar's batch number back to its apiaries.
Where to buy raw honey in NZ, and what it costs
In the supermarket the word is rare. On 29 October 2026 the only honey on woolworths.co.nz with “raw” in its name was Egmont Raw Honey, $12.70 for 500g, or $25.40 a kilo. That is about $5 a kilo more than Egmont's own 1kg pure honey, and about the same per kilo as Airborne's honeys, which are not called raw but publish their heat and pollen figures.
| Honey (Woolworths) | Size | Shelf price | Per kg | Sold as raw? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egmont raw honey | 500g | $12.70 | $25.40 | Yes |
| Airborne pure honey | 500g | $12.29 | $24.58 | No |
| Airborne clover honey (liquid) | 500g | $11.19 | $22.38 | No |
| Egmont pure honey | 1kg | $20.00 | $20.00 | No |
| Woolworths liquid honey | 500g | $7.39 | $14.78 | No |
Source: woolworths.co.nz online shelf prices, checked 29 October 2026 (Egmont pure honey 27 October). Regular price, not specials.
Outside the supermarket, most honey sold as raw comes straight from the people who keep the bees: beekeepers' own online shops, farmers' markets and roadside stalls. Buying that way is also the easiest way to get answers to the four questions above. Our guide to buying honey direct covers how, and the honey price guide has the wider per-kilo picture.
Does Woolworths sell raw honey?
Yes, but only one line by name. On 29 October 2026 the only honey on woolworths.co.nz with “raw” in its name was Egmont Raw Honey, 500g for $12.70 ($25.40 a kilo). Other jars may be handled just as gently without using the word.
Is raw honey the same as pure honey?
No. “Pure” on a New Zealand label means nothing has been added, which is already required of anything sold as honey. “Raw” describes how the honey was handled: little heating and coarse straining. Neither word has its own legal definition here, and a honey can be both, either or neither.
Is raw honey better than ordinary honey?
It is different rather than graded higher. Gentle handling keeps more of the floral aroma, and raw honey usually sets sooner because the pollen and fine particles are left in. Heated, fine-filtered honey stays liquid longer and looks clearer. Which is better depends on what you want in the jar.
Is mānuka honey raw?
Some is and some is not; the mānuka grade says nothing about heating. A UMF or MGO number measures the honey's markers, not how it was processed. If raw matters to you, ask the same questions as for any honey: how hot it got, and whether it was fine-filtered.
Why has my raw honey gone hard?
Because it is raw. Unheated honey keeps the pollen and tiny crystals that start setting, so it often sets within weeks. That is not spoiling. Stand the jar in warm water to soften it.
More guides
- Why honey goes hard, and how to bring it back
- How to read a New Zealand honey label
- How to store honey (and why it doesn't go off)
- Does honey expire? Best-before dates on NZ honey, explained
- Buying honey direct from a New Zealand beekeeper
- Clover, multifloral and liquid honey: what's the difference?
- Coromandel honey: what the bees work on the peninsula, and how to buy it
- The best honey in New Zealand, by what you want it for
- How much honey costs in New Zealand
- Creamed honey vs runny honey: what the difference actually is
- New Zealand honey by region: what each part of the country produces