Mother Earth is a well established New Zealand brand who produce a range of popular muesli and snack bars. They also sell manuka and multifloral honey worldwide.
Having positioned themselves as New Zealand’s favorite snack bar seller, Mother Earth is also establishing a fine reputation with their creamy, tasty manuka honey products.
In this Mother Earth Manuka Honey review, we'll look at their UMF 10+ product, one of their most popular.
Who is mother earth?
Mother Earth is a part of ProLife Foods, which is a New Zealand health and nutrition company. ProLife was started by Bernie and Kay Crosbie in the 1980s from a kitchen table with a pair of scales (borrowed) that they used to repackage nuts. Since then they have become the largest importer and roaster of nuts in New Zealand.
Mother Earth was started by two guys who were passionate about natural foods on the New Zealand South Island’s Waiheke Island in 1974. Mother Earth joined ProLife Foods in 2008. For 30 years they have built their business around nuts. Their nut range includes some of the most popular peanut butters in New Zealand.
Mother Earth is very big in the nut bar and muesli bars industry. In 2018 they were voted as New Zealand’s favorite snack bar. Mother Earth also has an extensive range of honey products. They work with experienced beekeepers who run 6,500 hives with 3.25 million bees producing some of the most popular honey sold in New Zealand. These hives are spread across the upper part of New Zealand’s North Island.
All Manuka Honey produced by Mother Earth is independently tested in registered labs to assess its key markers.
Mother Earth Manuka Honey UMF 10+ review:
Mother Earth produces a range of UMF grade Manuka honeys from 5+ to 15+.
Their UMF10+ manuka honey represents the mid range in terms of manuka honey potency.
It is available in both a 250 gram and a 500 gram plastic tinted container. The tinting of the container protects the valuable manuka from sun degradation.
With a recommended serving size of 5 grams, you will be able to get 50 servings from a 250 gram container.
Mother Earth produces a rich, creamy honey as the result of their creaming process, which involves multiple days of churning until the crystals become firm.
Every single jar of Mother Earth UMF10+ Manuka Honey is sourced, packed and sealed in New Zealand.
The beehives are placed strategically near some of the North Island’s prime manuka bush growing areas during the 2-6 week manuka flowering season to ensure that the bees collect their nectar only from manuka bushes.
Mother Earth owns all of its own beehives.
Grading
Mother Earth Manuka Honey is UMF graded.
The UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) grading system is the gold standard of manuka honey certification and comprehensively analyses all components of manuka honey, meaning you can be assured Mother Earth manuka honey has been independently tested and is genuine.
While the grading system is complex, all you need to know is a UMF stamp marks a manuka honey as authentic, and the corresponding number (e.g. UMF 10, UMF 20) indicates its level of antibacterial activity.
If you'd like to learn more about this process in-depth, you can read more about manuka grading systems here.
Taste
While it could just be batch differential, we noticed Mother Earth manuka honey was more runny than other manuka honey.
Sometimes this can be due to the lower UMF grade - as we generally don't buy UMF 10 manuka that often.
The taste is what you would expect from a manuka honey - an earthy aroma and a slightly bitter aftertaste, though we did find it slightly milder than some higher graded honeys.
Overall, it's pleasant and not too sweet - we think most people will enjoy it!
value for money
Mother Earth Manuka Honey is priced in the mid-range.
It's not the cheapest UMF 10 honey but not the most expensive either.
When dealing with manuka honey at this grade, we recommend going with the cheapest option, as all UMF graded honeys will be similar in potency.
While we think Mother Earth is still a decent quality honey, a cheaper and just as high quality option is New Zealand Honey Co, which would be our recommendation.
Price per 250 grams (8.8oz)
Grade | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UMF 10 | $23 | $35 | $30 | $29 | $30 |
suggested uses and benefits:
Mother Earth UMF 10+ Manuka Honey is a great tasting honey that is perfect for adding to your daily diet for general health and well-being.
It's a safe and nutritious superfood and adding it to your oatmeal, cereal, toast or hot drinks is an easy way to get a daily dose.
However, as the grading is only UMF 10, we wouldn't recommend it for any medicinal purpose.
For things such as treating flus, inflammation or wound treatment, we would recommend a higher grade of honey, ideally UMF 20 and above.
Our top recommendation for that would be the NZ Honey Co UMF 24+.
overall summary:
PROS
- Sustainable farming practices
- Local farmer support
- Reasonably priced
- Sweet taste
- UMF Graded
cons
- Hard to find
- No high UMF options
FAQ
Does Mother Earth manuka honey have any added sugar?
No, it does not appear as if Mother Earth has any added sugar. The product label lists the sugar content at 4.1 grams per 5 gram serving. Because the only ingredient listed in manuka honey we must conclude that this is all made up of natural sugars.
Is Mother Earth manuka honey a blend honey?
No Mother Earth Manuka honey is not a blend honey. It is a monofloral honey that has been sourced exclusively from bees who have collected their nectar from manuka bushes. However, Mother Earth does also produce a blended honey in their clover blend and liquid honey lines.
Is Mother Earth manuka honey the same as Trader Joe’s manuka honey?
No, Mother Earth Manuka Honey is not the same as Trader Joe’s. They are completely different manufacturers and products, though many people get them confused when searching online.
OTHER OPTIONS:
Mother Earth is much more than just a producer of manuka honey. They are, in fact, New Zealand’s biggest importer and reseller of nut products. They are also the country’s most popular producer of healthy snack bars and muesli bars. Mother Earth bars are made from all natural, wholesome ingredients, involve minimal processing and do not include any artificial colors or flavors. The range includes Baked Oaty Slices, Better Bars and Traditional Muesli Bars.
Mother Earth has a wide selection of healthy nuts, including almonds, cashews, peanuts and cranberries. They are available in single serve and multi serve packs. They also produce a range of natural peanut butters. They use only high oleic peanuts to produce higher levels of monounsaturated fats. There are no sugars, preservatives or emulsifiers in Mother Earth peanut butter. The range includes hemp, chia and sesame peanut butters.
The Mother Earth Honey range includes three categories:
- Clover Blend & Liquid
- Manuka UMF+
- Manuka MGO
The Mother Earth Clover Blend range of honeys come from pasture and bush flower nectars. This honey produces a relatively mild flavor. Mother Earth also produces and sells a liquid honey blend of clover, pasture and bush flowers. This tasty honey comes in a handy upside down bottle which leaves no drips.
The Mother Earth UMF manuka honey range provides the following:
- UMF 5+ (available in 250g and 500g containers)
- UMF 8+ (available in 250g and 500g containers)
- UMF 10+ (available in 250g and 500g containers)
- UMF 15+ (available in 250g and 500g containers)
The Mother Earth MGO manuka honey ranges provides the following:
- Manuka 30+ (available in 250g and 500g containers)
Where to buy:
We recommend buying Mother Earth Manuka Honey directly from Amazon.
