The East Cape region of New Zealand is now becoming well-known for the high-quality products that are produced from the mānuka plant specific to the region.

The world is fast catching onto the benefits of mānuka oil, thought to be 1,000 times more potent than high-rated mānuka honey — which is already well established for its healing benefits.  

Recently, this abundant mānuka region was featured on Hyundai’s Country Calendar where our East Cape Mānuka Oil is made. It tells the humble story of mānuka, once despised as a “pest”, but now sought after by many as the seemingly endless health and home benefits are unlocked. 

Hyundai Country Calendar East Cape Mānuka Oil | Episode 11

Mighty Mānuka | Hyundai Country Calendar | Episode 11 | 2020 | TVNZ

More importantly, the episode tells the stories of a local life now booming with opportunity that is providing ample and diverse work to locals and bringing home residents who once left to search for work in the cities. 

Now, mānuka oil is driving growth and is a major contributor to the East Coast economy.

Mānuka harvesting has become an economic lifeline to the East Coast, allowing landowners and locals to actually work the land they call home. Decades past, the mānuka plant was often bulldozed and cleared to make space for grazing land for cattle and sheep. But it always grew back to the frustration of the farmers. They didn’t see the potential of mānuka at the time, even if it was used for centuries by Maori healers to help treat an extensive array of ailments. 

Mānuka Oil: From small beginnings to big potential

At first, mānuka oil began as a project by enthusiasts interested in discovering more uses for mānuka than just the rich and sought after honey. Since then, it has grown into a multi-million dollar enterprise over the past 30 years. And that means more work for those who call East Cape home.

“Originally the focus was creating employment options for the people that are living here in this community. So thirty years on, we are still putting food on the tables here.” 

The community, and its people, are important to the farms and the production of mānuka oil. But it’s also its most important resource and the key to the success of mānuka. 

“The most important resource that we have is our people, and our lands, and if we can’t offer them something to come home to then they’ll stay in the cities, but we want our people to come home.”

The ever-expanding possibilities for mānuka continue to grow. From its antibacterial and antifungal properties to antimicrobial resistance, science-backed research has only touched the surface of the potential holistic health benefits found in East Cape Mānuka Skin Oil.

The mighty mānuka is also bringing jobs that up-skill the workers, helping provide growth and stability to a small rural community in New Zealand. East Cape mānuka oil is now one of the fastest-growing and highest in-demand industries, and the possibilities seem endless for the region.

The mighty mānuka, once thought of as a weed, is now the beating heart of the East Cape and an amazing resurgence of opportunity for locals — helping people to come home.

Here at ManukaRx, we're proud to support this East Cape community by infusing East Cape Mānuka Skin Oil into all of our natural, New Zealand made skincare products. 

And with every product purchase you make, you'll be supporting this wonderful community too, helping to provide even more work in this remote part of the country whilst benefiting from the incredible antibacterial and anti-microbial properties found in "nature's miracle" oil. 

Discover our East Cape mānuka oil skincare products here.