Just how stupid can people be? - Part Two

A couple of things coming from the previous blog.

Firstly, at the risk of sounding like a Monty Python sketch, there's not four, there's five things I dread.
They are, in no particular order:-
 - Manuka
 - the Flow Hive.
 - 'how can I help the bees?'
 - 'I've read bees are dying'
 - Honey and pregnancy
The reason I dread them is that often people find my opinion disappointing. I remember in particular talking to someone at The Forest Centre and he asked me my opinion of the Flow Hive. He was obviously very enthusiastic about them and when I told him my opinion he clearly found it very disappointing to the point where he became quite grumpy.
I'm tempted to do blogs on all four so when I'm asked about them I can simply say 'read the blog'

Secondly, when I saw the honey being sold for £83, I emailed the company pretending to be a potential customer:-

Hi, I've read some amazing things about Manuka honey and I'm really keen to try some.

I want to use the best I can and am interested in the 550+.but it is a bit more expensive than the other types. Is it more difficult to produce or more rare?

I would really appreciate your help with this. Thanks!

Their reply was :-

Thank you for your enquiry, Manuka Health MGO 550+ is 100% pure Manuka Honey straight from the breath taking landscapes of New Zealand.

Honey is well known to have a wide range of health benefits and Manuka Honey is particularly prized for its potency and purity.

The higher the MGO™ Manuka honey rating the higher the level of anti-bacterial activity in the honey therefore this is reflected in the price of the honey.

The final paragraph clearly illustrates a problem with Manuka honey. The price of Manuka has nothing to do with its rarity or additional processing just the random nature of its content.
The active ingredient methylgloxal [MG] comes from the nectar of the tea tree, or Manuka bush.
Therefore bees from the same apiary might forage on the Manuka bush in two areas, one with nectar with a high MG value and another with a low MG factor. The bee keeper will have little control over this and won't know the honey's 'potency and purity' until it has been tested.. Up to this point the cost of production is exactly the same for the two batches of honey.

Imagine the excitement of the bee keeper as he reads the test reports on the honey. A high MG and its off to Bodykind. A low one and its flogged to Rowse. Production, packaging and delivery costs will be exactly the same.
Its Manuka roulette!
Imagine the confusion if the batches are wrongly labelled. Tesco's will be selling £83 honey for £3.90 and Bodykind has sold £3.90 honey for £83.
I don't expect either set of customers would know the difference.

I have been asked if I am anti Manuka. I'm not.
If people like the taste and texture of the honey, and I have met people who do, then that's fine. Nothing to do with me.
If people want to spend money on a quality product and can afford it, obviously that's fine as well.
Its just I fail to understand why people should pay £83 for something that at the moment at least has no practical quantify able benefit.
From Bodykinds email it seems there isn't a supply and demand issue that could justify the higher price nor any manufacturing issues It seems to me  Bodykind and others are just creating a 'South Sea Bubble' and taking advantage of peoples gullibility. I'm not angry just disappointed. And disappointing.