Tasmanian Honey Company
Few people know what they want to devote their life to from the age of 8, but in the case of our founder Julian Wolfhagen, one taste of freshly harvested Tasmanian honey was more than enough to set his future venture for Australian Honey in stone. Now producing Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey for all to experience.
“The first time I tasted freshly harvested honey. Well, it set my young mind racing into places I’m still trying to explore!”
Growing up on a ‘frontier back block in central Tasmania’ Julian was no novice when it came to living off the land. To him and his family, it wasn’t an alternative, political statement – it was instead, a fact of life. It was during his fundamental childhood years that he realised Australian honey was more than simple golden nectar you spread on toast. It was authentic health food, a product that he could use to heal himself, in both a physical and spiritual sense.
Fast forward to 1978 and Julian created The Tasmanian Honey Company, to share with the world the tonic that is Tasmanian-made honey. He also was, as his 8-year-old self pre-empted; a beekeeper. A beekeeper that wanted to produce wild and uncompromised leatherwood honey for all to share.
From humble beginnings our production line has expanded and we now have multiple staff sharing Julian’s passion for, and his commitment to, the production of wild and restorative honey harvested from the most pristine areas of Tasmania.
“Simply put, we have a Tasmanian advantage – Leatherwood honey is the honey bees produce from the nectar of the Leatherwood plants’ flower. The Leatherwood plant (Eucryphia lucida) is endemic to Tasmania, so you will only find true Tasmanian leatherwood honey that is produced in Tasmania.”
To ensure we harness the full quality of our honey we use a ‘minimal impact process’ from the time the honey is removed from the beehives until the honey is finally packaged and ready for consumption.
An important aspect of this method is keeping the honey at relatively low temperatures throughout the handling process. While other processes use high temperatures to make the honey easy to use, the maximum temperature we warm our honey to is less than 45 degrees Celsius for all the candied ranges.
No filtration is used in the process, cleaning is affected by straining, and at no point do we use any chemicals or additives whatsoever. The low-temperature process retains the floral essences and flavonoids and bio-active compounds that give honey its flavour and health benefits.