The remarkable story of

since 1974

1921

At the age of 11, Comvita founder Claude Stratford, established a life-long love of beekeeping when he started his own hives.

1974

From humble beginnings; Claude Stratford at the age of 63, and Alan Bougen age 22 formed a partnership with a shared belief in the power of nature. That's how Comvita started.

"COM"

. . . from the herb comfrey

"VITA"

. . .Latin for life

1985

Our product range had rapidly expanded from honey in a pot, to more than 80 products including Propolis Elixir. This Manuka honey, Propolis and herbal formulated product is still one of our best-selling items today.

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1990

And not long after, we brought UMF® Manuka Honey to the UK! We were the first company to sell UMF® Manuka honey in UK.

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1988

We arrived In the UK!!

First export shipment of everyday, table honey.

1999

Claude Stratford was awarded the New Zealand Queens Service Medal for his contribution to the community.

2006

Comvita Limited is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX:CVT).

2007

Olive Leaf Extract was launched. Since then, we have taken Olive Leaf Extract from our plantation in Australia to customers all over the world, and received lots of great feedback.

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2010

Claude Stratford turned 100. His secret to longevity? Take Manuka honey, Olive Leaf Extract and Bee Pollen every day.

Co-founder Alan Bougen said Mr Stratford was an outstanding person and a pioneer in the health food industry in New Zealand.

He was a man of indomitable spirit and good humour, who has left a tremendous legacy for New Zealand.

2013

Acquired one of the world's largest fresh Olive leaf plantations in Queensland, Australia. Since then we have commissioned a number of clinical trials on the product to further understand the science behind Olive Leaf Extract.

More research is in the pipeline.

Now

Throughout the last four decades, we have been perfecting our beekeeping craft to become the world-leading UMF® Manuka Honey producer.

We continue our co-founders vision by researching and carefully selecting sources of natural ingredients, carefully tending and harvesting them to preserve their purity. It's what we've been doing for all these years, and very little has changed. We take enormous pride in every single product we produce.