The Best Manuka Honey (2026): UMF Grades, Decoded

UMF 15+ is the grade we would actually spend money on. Below UMF 10 the honey is mild enough that you are mostly paying for the word manuka. Above UMF 20 the price curve goes near vertical while the flavor difference narrows. The New Zealand Honey Co UMF 15+ manuka honey sits in the middle of that curve: dark caramel color, thick enough that a spoon stands up in it for a second, and a flavor that is genuinely unlike any other honey, faintly medicinal and earthy in a way that people either love immediately or have to grow into.

Third party testing is the other thing this listing gets right. The producer states independent verification rather than in-house numbers, which is what you want in a category where the grade is the whole value proposition. Practically, use it the way New Zealanders do: straight off a spoon, stirred into hot (not boiling) water with lemon, or spread on toast where its density actually works in your favor. It is a poor cooking honey and an expensive one, so do not bake with it.

On why people buy manuka in the first place: it has a long popular and traditional reputation, and a great many shoppers arrive at this jar for reasons that have nothing to do with breakfast. We are not going to characterize what it does, because we are a shopping guide and that is not our lane. If a health question is what brought you here, take it to a clinician. What we will say is that if you are buying manuka at all, buy a certified grade, because an uncertified jar is neither good honey nor a credible anything else. The full decoder for the numbers is in our UMF and MGO explainer.

Do not start at the top of the grade ladder. The most common manuka mistake we see is a first-time buyer spending $50 on a UMF 20+ jar, tasting it, and disliking it, at which point they own an expensive jar of something they will not finish. The New Zealand Honey Co UMF 10+ manuka honey at $18.88 solves that: it is recognizably manuka, noticeably darker and denser and more savory than ordinary honey, but mild enough to be pleasant on the first spoon rather than challenging.

Where this jar earns its slot is the price of admission. Under $20 is a rare number in certified manuka, and it comes from a licensed producer with third party testing stated. If you like it, move up a grade next time and you will have spent $19 to make a $34 decision well. If you do not like it, you spent $19 to find out, which is exactly the sort of trade this site exists to point out. For what the numbers mean before you climb the ladder, read our manuka UMF and MGO explainer.

Manuka pricing does not always follow manuka grading, and that is an opportunity. Grade normally tracks price closely, because methylglyoxal content depends on nectar quality and honey age and there is only so much high-MGO manuka in the world. But listing prices move on inventory, not on chemistry, and right now the New Zealand Honey Co UMF 20+ manuka honey at $32.98 sits under the same producer's UMF 15+ jar at $33.88. Same license, same testing, same origin, more than 60 percent more methylglyoxal, less money. If both listings still read that way when you check, this is the obvious buy.

The rest of the story matches our top pick because it is the same producer: full UMF licensing rather than a bare number, stated third party testing, New Zealand origin. The jar weight is not stated clearly on the listing, so confirm it before comparing per-gram against anything else in this guide. And use it the way high-grade manuka deserves: neat, or in warm drinks, never baked into anything. Our UMF and MGO explainer covers exactly how far up the grade ladder is worth climbing.

Manuka is normally sold in jars so small that the price hides. Most listings in this category are 250 grams or smaller, which is about 8.8 ounces, and at that size a $35 jar does not feel as extreme as it is. The Egmont Honey MGO 265+ manuka in the 500 gram jar breaks that pattern: half a kilogram for $26.99, which is about $5.40 per 100 grams. For comparison, a 250 gram jar at $34.95 works out to roughly $13.98 per 100 grams, more than two and a half times the price for the same weight of honey.

The catch is the grade itself. MGO 265+, equivalent to UMF 10+, is the entry tier, so this is not the jar for someone chasing the dense, intense character of high-grade manuka. It is the jar for someone who wants certified New Zealand manuka in the house at a volume that lets them actually use it: in tea, on toast, off a spoon, without wincing at the rate of depletion. For most households that is the more sensible relationship with manuka honey, and it is why this jar carries our value pick.

Note that this listing states both a UMF grade and an MGO number, which is the belt-and-suspenders labeling we like to see. When only one appears, the conversion is straightforward, and our UMF and MGO explainer has the full table.

The clearest label in the guide, at the least favorable per-gram price. The Manuka Health UMF 13+ manuka honey tells you three things most listings do not tell you together: the UMF grade (13+), the MGO number (400+), and the net weight (250 g, or 8.8 oz). That transparency is worth something, especially in a category where opacity is the norm. What it costs you is about $13.98 per 100 grams, or roughly 3.5 cents per MGO point per 100 grams, against about 2.0 cents for the Egmont jar.

Brand matters more in manuka than it does in most groceries, for a reason worth stating: the category has a long history of counterfeiting, with far more honey sold as manuka worldwide than New Zealand could plausibly produce. That is precisely why the UMF licensing program exists and why New Zealand built an export certification regime around the product. Buying a large, established, licensed brand is one reasonable way to manage that risk, and it is a legitimate reason to pay a premium even when the per-gram math does not flatter the jar.

Use it as you would any mid-grade manuka: spoon, toast, warm drinks. Background on the honey itself and the plant it comes from is well covered in the general entry on manuka honey, which is a good grounding read before you spend real money in this aisle.

Grade parity means price decides. When two licensed producers both sell certified UMF 15+ at MGO 514+, you are comparing packers, not honey chemistry, because the grade is the specification. Kiva's certified UMF 15+ raw manuka honey is a well-regarded jar from a brand with a long presence in the category, and at $39.99 it costs about 18 percent more than the New Zealand Honey Co jar at the same grade. That gap is the entire argument, and it goes the other way the moment either listing moves.

Flavor and texture are what you expect from the grade: dark, thick, earthy, distinctly manuka. As with several jars here, confirm the net weight on the live listing before you compare per-gram against the Egmont or Manuka Health jars, both of which do state weights. For the decoder on why UMF 15+ specifically is the grade most manuka buyers settle on, see our UMF and MGO explainer.

Buy the big jar only after the small jar has proven itself. That is the whole guidance on the New Zealand Honey Co UMF 20+ large jar. At $55.88 it is the most expensive item in this guide, and the format only makes sense if you already know you use manuka at this grade regularly enough to finish it. If you do, the larger size normally improves your per-gram rate against the standard jar, and you should confirm both weights on the live listings to check that it still does at current prices.

Grade, certification, and origin are identical to the standard UMF 20+ jar: UMF licensed, third party tested, New Zealand sourced. Storage is trivial, honey keeps essentially indefinitely in a sealed jar at room temperature, so a large format carries no spoilage risk. The only real risks are the money and the flavor commitment. If manuka has become a habit rather than an experiment for you, this is the jar. If it has not, buy the $18.88 UMF 10+ and revisit this page in six months.