The True Honey Co. was founded in 2013 when Jim McMillan, through his experience as a commercial helicopter pilot, identified significant stands of mānuka present in some pristine, remote locations throughout New Zealand that weren’t being utilised for honey production.  
 
Jim has a great passion for innovation. Not a day goes by without Jim finding a new and better way of doing things – from researching the breed of bee’s, location of hives through to tracking the weather and how the bees will respond.  He is constantly observing, collaborating, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Flying over hills blanketed with mānuka flowers within New Zealand's pristine backcountry Jim saw the potential of embarking on a journey of innovation to reimagine mānuka honey as a globally sought-after luxury. With the support of his father Rodger, he started building a honey production business based on producing ‘high active’ mānuka honey sourced from those very remote locations. After extensive consultation with mānuka block landowners Jim was able to build a mānuka honey business that provided landowner partners with complete visibility and transparency of the production chain and develop win-win mutually beneficial partnerships.  
 
mānuka honey is a precious gift from nature that has beneficial properties for general health and wellbeing, and has a long history, dating back to Jim’s Maori ancestors and their connection to the land. Jim is known for his holistic health and wellness stance and holds a strong belief that products sourced from nature should play a greater part to our health and well-being now and in the future – fortunately mānuka is one of them. 
 
Jim’s vision for The True Honey Co. is to be the most desired and sought-after mānuka honey brand in the world.  By revealing how The True Honey Co. mānuka rises above all others, the extreme lengths his team goes to in producing the purest mānuka Honey in the world would suggest this goal is within reach. 
 
So for the man behind The True Honey Co.  the inspiration and ideas never stop. 
Jim doesn’t just imagine and dream, he creates and that is the magic of an entrepreneurial founder. 

The True Honey Co. was born from this inspiration, aiming to provide the world with mānuka honey sourced from the most secluded and purest corners of New Zealand, places only reached by helicopter. Our journey has always been about merging nature's profound simplicity with rigorous scientific standards, ensuring every drop of our honey captures the vitality and essence of New Zealand. The strategic intention for the company is to sell a large proportion of our honey internationally as branded sales, whilst maintaining strong supply for local partners and consumers in New Zealand. In 2027 they are forecasting that sales will break down as follows 5% Rare Harvest, 70% Core range and 25% will be their new NPD wellness to go. Currently TTHC also successfully sell Bulk honey sales. The True Honey Co. brand is enjoyed in many parts of the world. In 2022, The True Honey Co. accounted for 74% of the total export value of New Zealand Manuka honey into Saudi Arabia1.