Wedderspoon Organic Comes Home

The largest seller of New Zealand sourced and manufactured Manuka honey products in North America is now in New Zealand ownership.

The Wedderspoon Organic group comprising of entities based in the United States, Canada and New Zealand has been purchased by Florenz, a subsidiary of the Christchurch-based investment company Masthead Ltd.

Wedderspoon Organic was founded 24 years ago and its products range from Manuka honey to Manuka honey lozenges, drops and lip balm as well as Bee Propolis throat sprays. Its products are stocked in more than 23,000 stores in the United States and Canada ranging from Costco to Walmart, CVS and Whole Foods.

Florenz also owns New Zealand-based vitamins and supplements exporter Xtend-Life Group, ingredients manufacturer Dry Food New Zealand and innovative blackcurrant-based sports performance supplement exporter 2Before Performance Nutrition, which was purchased from Government-owned Plant and Food Research. Florenz is also a cornerstone shareholder of iconic New Zealand herbal remedies company Harker Herbals Products, which was established more than 40-years ago.

Masthead has a strong track record of building world class businesses over the past three decades. Its most recent business divestment was the sale of its premium petfood manufacturer and exporter Ziwi.

Florenz Group Chief Executive Officer Mike Tod says there is burgeoning global demand for natural health products backed by science from trusted brands and countries with first class reputations, such as New Zealand.

"Brand New Zealand has never been stronger overseas and consumers globally are rapidly moving away from synthetic health products to support their wellbeing. Our nation has some of the best natural ingredients in the world and access to incredible other ingredients offshore. Put alongside that our nation’s cutting edge science capabilities, and we can curate here in New Zealand products that make a positive impact on wellbeing globally,” Mr Tod says.

“Our 2Before blackcurrant-based sports performance business is a terrific example of Kiwi innovation and science. The business was first established in 2019 with Masthead taking a controlling stake in the business in November 2021. Since this time the product has been adopted and used by players in the NBA and NBL in the United States as well as in the NRL in Australia and New Zealand. The power of 2Before will be on display at the Olympics as more international athletes are understanding the performance and recovery benefits of blackcurrants grown in the South Island of New Zealand.”

Mr Tod says that Florenz is actively looking at other investment opportunities beyond Wedderspoon as it seeks to grow a world class export business to further strengthen the New Zealand economy.

"We have an outstanding leadership team at Florenz with strong international experience and a deep belief in the ability of Kiwis to compete and win on the global stage.

"Through Florenz we have begun assembling and growing a complementary series of businesses. Establishing a base in the United States to accelerate the growth of our products into North America is an exciting step. Wedderspoon provides a terrific springboard given its presence in around 23,000 retail stores and on more than 70,000 shelves across those stores in the United States and Canada. On top of this it has distribution in Central America and Asia, and it has just secured placement in one of the biggest retail chains in the United Kingdom."

The Chief Commercial Officer of Florenz, Mark Sadd, says the New Zealand manuka honey story is one that all Kiwis can be proud of.

“For us it is a privilege to become the new custodians of Wedderspoon and to support the growth of the New Zealand manuka honey industry by building more global awareness of this incredible natural product.”

Mr Sadd says the Wedderspoon team under Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Remley has steadily grown a highly customer focused business of scale in one of the toughest markets for a New Zealand product to succeed.

“It is terrific to be able to support Rebecca and her team on this next chapter of the incredible Wedderspoon journey as they seek to accelerate growth through both online and bricks and mortar sales in the United States, Canada and Europe in particular. Product innovation is a key enabler of that, and the team has some exciting customer -led product developments in the pipeline,” Mr Sadd says.

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