UMF™ is shorthand for the most comprehensive, independently certified and internationally recognised quality assurance system for New Zealand mānuka honey. It’s designed to validate mānuka honey potency, authenticity, purity, shelf life and freshness for honey producers, brands, customers and consumers around the world.
Only one standard independently assures the quality of New Zealand mānuka honey so consumers around the world can be confident in the strength and purity of each product they buy. Each mānuka honey product that carries the UMF™ trademark must pass the stringent Unique Mānuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA) quality, grading and rating tests.
Mānuka Performance carries this UMF™ trademark with honor, ensuring that our products are a cut above the rest.
The UMF™ Quality Assurance System
The UMFHA has been at the forefront of almost three decades of world-leading research to understand the benefits and quality management of mānuka honey. We’ve identified 2,300+ natural compounds in New Zealand mānuka honey that contribute to its unique taste, texture and support of health & wellness – and make it the best honey in the world.
To produce mānuka honey that can be certified as the world’s finest quality, New Zealand’s honey producers have to adhere to a unique quality system. We are the keepers of that system.
The system builds on the New Zealand government, Ministry of Primary Industries tests that validate all honey sold as mānuka is genuine.
Four Factor Quality Testing
UMF™ means more than simply MGO. Our goal is to ensure that you’re able to easily choose the right mānuka product for your needs, which is why our standard is the only one that tests for the four key elements of mānuka honey: Potency, Authenticity, Shelf Life and Freshness.
100% Pure and Traceable
New Zealand has zero honey imports, which means UMF™ certified honey contains no adulterants. In fact, all retail products with our quality mark are traceable to independent UMFHA licensed suppliers and producers.
This unparalleled assurance system applies strict product standards and testing protocols to confirm the traceability, purity and product quality of authentic 100% New Zealand mānuka honey, so that you know what you’re buying is genuinely produced, packed and sealed in New Zealand.
A Global Network
The UMF™ Quality Assurance System is recognised around the world by regulators and standards authorities. We use a global laboratory network for in-market audits that verify certified honeys retain their quality over time, and all our licensed producers support and commit to this to assure the UMF™ mark. Our network tests product in global market and validates UMF™ mānuka honey quality after leaving New Zealand.
Global Research Partner Network
We continue to expand knowledge of this unique honey only found in New Zealand with research into the health and wellness properties in our exceptional mānuka honey.
The UMF™ Four Factor Quality Testing
Our comprehensive quality test certifies four key mānuka natural components, that ensure it will reach you in the best possible condition to meet your needs. It adds a quality dimension, proven by the NZ Government’s important mānuka ID test, which identifies whether products are mānuka honey or not.
The Rating System
Real New Zealand mānuka honey contains over 2,300 unique components that contribute to its complex flavour and its remarkable benefits. The UMF™ Four Factor Quality Assurance Test independently certifies the quality factors that matter and summarises them in a single figure. It validates Potency, Authenticity, Freshness, and Purity of honest mānuka honey and verifies the genuine UMF™ rating of each batch.
No other honey undergoes such rigorous testing by a bee-keeper’s country mile. We build on the New Zealand government’s mānuka honey identification tests by ensuring certainty around purity, potency, authenticity and freshness – making the UMF™ rating the only option for anyone seeking independent assurance that their purchase will support their health and wellness.
Quality Factors that Matter in Mānuka Honey:
MGO For Potency
Methylglyoxal, to give it its full name, is the source of golden mānuka honey’s special antibacterial properties and an important potency measure. The higher the MGO, the stronger the concentration of MGO. The UMF™ guarantee means that you can be sure that Mānuka Performance products that bear the UMF™ mark contains the special activity.
Leptosperin For Authenticity
Leptosperin is a compound found only in mānuka flower nectar and can only be created by nature. Measuring this unique component ensures the authenticity of mānuka honey. Laboratory research also shows leptosperin content has anti-inflammatory properties that grows as the UMF™ scale increases.
DHA For Shelf Life
Dihydroxyacetone (as it’s known to us) is slowly converted to MGO in healthy living honey. The higher the DHA content, the longer the life of the MGO content in your mānuka honey – which is why the best mānuka honey must have more than 70 mg/kg DHA to be UMF™ certified.
HMF For Freshness
We test for hydroxymethylfurfural, since this long-named compound assures honey has not been overheated or stored too long, and is in the best condition to maintain the unique blend of living properties in mānuka honey as promised by Mānuka Performance
Our comprehensive laboratory network tests all mānuka honey products before they leave New Zealand to guarantee their effectiveness.
Our partnerships with global standards organisations, laboratories, regulatory officials and research partners ensures the quality of mānuka honey that UMF™ standards are upheld around the world, and New Zealand’s unique mānuka honey is protected.
At Mānuka Performance, our UMF™ certification is just one example of many robust quality control measures we put in place to ensure consumers are getting the highest quality products available.
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