04 June 2004
COMVITA NZ IS SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
AWARD WINNER

Environment Bay of Plenty’s Sustainable Business Kauri Award winner is natural health products company, Comvita New Zealand.

The Environment Bay of Plenty Sustainable Business Awards were presented at a gala dinner in Rotorua on 03 June. Comvita New Zealand won the Kauri Award for large businesses, sponsored by the University of Waikato Management School.

Comvita Sales and Marketing Manager Scott Coulter says “sustainability is increasingly important for our business. Consumers are beginning to judge companies on their sustainable business efforts and there’s no doubt that taking an early position will reap commercial benefits.”

The Te Puke-based operation manufactures and markets a wide portfolio of natural health and medical products, many derived from honeybees – including Manuka honey, Propolis, and Pollen.

Mr Coulter says Comvita positions its products at the premium end of the market, with the Comvita brand a key competitive advantage.

“We need to meet our customers’ expectations in the sustainability area to maintain our price premium in the global market. We have developed a strong and well recognised international brand. One of our major points of difference is New Zealand – the country itself provides us with the highest quality natural products found anywhere in the world.”

Comvita has traditionally been active in this area with a commitment to both environmental and social sustainability demonstrated through a variety of initiatives. Over the past twelve months the company has started to pull these initiatives together into specific projects with clear business objectives.

Mr Coulter says it makes good sense for New Zealand businesses to be proactive in this area. “A commercially sensible approach can improve business performance in all three key areas - economic, social and environmental sustainability.”

He says “we still have much work to do. It is important that any changes we make in the name of sustainability are not just for cosmetic purposes, but they create real benefits to people and the environment. This is a challenge that sustainability brings, balancing commercial reality with the potential business benefits that can be gained.”

ENDS

Media release

14 April 2004

$2.4m research partnership investigates non-drug approach to preventing gastric diseases

A new, food-based approach to managing a health complaint which affects millions of people world-wide is the subject of a four-year $2.4 million research programme being led by Crop & Food Research scientists.

The programme, which has just received funding from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, is being undertaken in partnership with the natural health care company, Comvita. The award-winning export company is contributing towards the four year programme as part of its innovative product development strategy backed by scientific research.

The research aims to develop foods which either prevent or treat conditions associated with infection by Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium which causes gastritis, ulcers and gastric cancer. These conditions are traditionally treated with drugs once the symptoms appear.

Crop & Food Research chief executive Paul Tocker says scientists will be developing high value foods which have ingredients which work together to reduce the effects of H Pylori infection.

It is estimated that some 70% of the world’s population is infected with H pylori, but not all will develop health complaints.

“These novel foods will be attractive to people who want to reduce the risk of stomach ulcers or gastric cancer. They will also be attractive to a broader market because they will taste good and be convenient to eat, and this will improve the digestive health of a broader market.”

He says the potential to combat H Pylori infection with specific foods opens up exciting export potential, initially in Asia and Australia.

Collaborating with Crop & Food Research will be medical researchers at the Christchurch School of Medicine and the University of New South Wales in Australia. The programme is being led by Crop & Food Research’s Dr Alison Wallace, who is an emerging researcher.

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For more information contact:
Katherine Trought
Communications Manager
Crop & Food Research
Phone 03 325 6400
Mobile 027 431 3264

www.crop.cri.nz

News Release
March 26, 2004
Collaboration Between Japanese And NZ Scientists Now A Step Closer

Comvita Limited, winner of the prestigious 2003 Consumer Products Exporter of the Year Award, has put its winnings to good use by hosting a visit by an internationally-acclaimed honeybee and propolis expert from Japan.

Associate Professor Jun Nakamura, from the Honeybee Science Research Centre at Tamagawa University, near Tokyo, has spent the last week with Comvita personnel discussing beekeeping and visiting scientists throughout the North Island. His busy schedule included a meeting with the man who received an MBE for his investigations into the antibacterial properties of honey, Dr Peter Molan, Professor of Biological Sciences at Waikato University.

Although well travelled in the course of studying the honeybee over the last 25 years, this is Dr Nakamura’s first visit to New Zealand. It’s also the first time he has seen manuka, the native plant which is unique to this country and which enables bees to produce the sought after manuka honey.

“The existence of manuka and manuka honey no doubt explains the huge focus on honey in New Zealand,” says Dr Nakamura. “In Japan and elsewhere in Asia, the focus is more on other products of the honeybee, such as propolis.”

Propolis is a subject close to the heart of this quiet, unassuming professional. The product, which has long been recognised as an effective treatment for all manner of infections, has found a big market in Japan and in other Asian markets.

“We are very aware of the health benefits to be gained from digesting propolis. There is major potential for it in Asia.”

One of those charged with hosting Dr Nakamura during his visit was Comvita’s technical manager, Denise Elliott. A registered naturopath, she says New Zealand propolis is finding a ready market in Asia.

“Our propolis is high in flavonoids. There’s strong evidence to demonstrate that propolis is a powerful antioxidant because of the strength of the flavonoids it contains,” she says. “Comvita has recognised the concentration and variety of flavonoids give propolis exceptional health benefits.”

Elliott says propolis is still looked on as a mysterious bee product being a complex mixture of beeswax and plant resins collected by honeybees. Its powerful combination of antibacterial and antiviral properties has earned it a worldwide following.”

Dr Nakamura endorses the many positive properties of propolis. “It’s totally natural,” he says, “so there are no major side-effects.”

Some of his time here was spent viewing poplar trees – one of several varieties of trees which produce natural sap and resins with high flavonoid levels utilised in propolis.

“Honey bees gather the resins and add their own special substances to make propolis, which they use to protect the hive,” he explains. “There’s a strong conviction among Asians that propolis has very strong immune-boosting properties, which undoubtedly accounts for the upsurge of interest in propolis in Japan and elsewhere.”

Comvita’s CEO Graeme Boyd says Dr Nakamura’s visit has strengthened the relationship Comvita has been building for some time with Tamagawa University.

“The aim of this relationship is to encourage collaborative research into New Zealand propolis between our scientists and Japan’s,” says Boyd. “This is an important step along the way. It has been fast-tracked by the grant received under the Consumer Products Export Award.”

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