Gold again: Haddrell's wins at the 2026 London International Honey Awards

It is official. Haddrell's of Cambridge has been awarded Gold at the 2026 London International Honey Awards — the latest chapter in a run of recognition that has become a habit rather than a surprise.

For us at Manuka Europe, the distributor that brings Haddrell's to the continent, it is a moment worth marking. A Gold here is not a marketing sticker bought off a shelf. It is earned, blind, by people who taste honey for a living.

What the London International Honey Awards actually is

The London International Honey Awards (LIHA) is one of the most respected international competitions for branded, retail honey. Entries are assessed blind — samples are stripped of their packaging and branding, coded, and scored purely on what is in the jar.

A trained international panel rates each honey on appearance, odour, texture, flavour and mouth-feel, with overall enjoyment carrying the most weight. The organisers can pair this sensory judging with physical and chemical laboratory tests to confirm each product is technically sound. Crucially, every honey is judged on its own merits against an absolute quality scale — not in a popularity contest against rivals.

What a Gold means

LIHA awards honey on a points scale:

• Platinum — 95.5 to 100 points
• Gold — 80.5 to 95 points
• Silver — 65 to 80 points

A Gold therefore signals a honey of genuinely superior sensory quality, verified by experts who could not see whose jar they were tasting. For Haddrell's, it continues a strong track record at this competition — Silver in 2022, then back-to-back Gold in the years since.

Why this ties back to UMF, MGO and single origin

A blind taste award and a lab-certified potency grade measure different things — and that is exactly why both matter. Awards speak to craft and character; UMF and MGO speak to substance.

• UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) — issued by the independent UMF Honey Association in New Zealand. Ratings such as 5+, 10+, 15+, 20+ and 24+ measure the bioactive compounds unique to Manuka.
• MGO (Methylglyoxal) — a direct laboratory measurement (mg/kg) of the compound behind Manuka's potency. A higher MGO number means higher potency.

Haddrell's premium grades sit at the top of that scale, where only a small fraction of all Manuka honey qualifies. A Gold-winning honey that also carries a verified UMF rating tells you two true things at once: it tastes exceptional, and its potency is independently proven.

Single-origin New Zealand, from hive to jar

None of this would mean much without provenance. Every jar of Haddrell's is 100% New Zealand Manuka — single origin, no blends, no syrup, no mystery mix. Each batch is tied to a specific harvest, bottled in New Zealand before export, and carried through to the European shelf with that chain intact.

As Haddrell's puts it, recognition like this "validates Haddrell's as a producer of premium Manuka honey." We would add only that it validates a particular way of working: one country, one ingredient, tested twice over.

What it means for European customers

European shoppers are right to be sceptical of honey. With new EU origin-labelling rules now in force and roughly half of imported honey under suspicion of adulteration, "trust me" is no longer good enough.

A Gold at the 2026 London International Honey Awards is one more independent voice confirming what the UMF and MGO numbers already say: this is the real thing. Single-origin New Zealand Manuka, judged blind and found excellent. That is the standard we bring to Europe — and one more reason to celebrate.