  
Airborne Honey Ltd commenced commercial operations in 1910 on Banks Peninsula, lying in the East coast of the South Island and was founded by William Bray and his partner, Alfred Barrett.
Barrett and Bray operated apiaries of 30 - 50 hives in the many bays and inlets on the Peninsula and produced a number of native honeys on the rugged terrain. Their first hives were taken over to this area by bullock wagon and the two families were able to earn a comfortable living from 300 hives. Handling of the finished product was also very laborious, as this was before motor vehicles and mechanisation were readily available.
Early in New Zealand's food industry, honey was not readily accepted as a food source due to poor presentation and packaging. The two partners could see that honey had to be promoted as a food that was healthy and nutritious. They took space at shows giving tastes on water crackers, set up displays in shops, gave talks to schools, produced recipe books, etc. All this took a lot of time and money but today New Zealanders consume more honey per head (1.95 kilos per annum) than any other nation.
In 1927 two brands of honey were registered, "Meadow" and "Airborne". Meadow was a light amber and Airborne a white clover honey. The Airborne brand is now the oldest surviving brand of honey in New Zealand.
|
