Our History
Honeyco is a family business which began in 1960 when founder Robin Jansen began his beekeeping
operation in Acacia Bay, Taupo. He had kept bees in the Waikato region prior to this. When Acacia
Bay Apiaries moved to Poihipi Road in the early 1970s, the business name changed to Taupo Honey
Centre. Robin Jansen established the small retail store and a honey packing facility from where he exported worldwide.
The business was renamed Honey Village when the popular destination had grown to include numerous other tourist businesses, including pottery, jade factory, souvenir and Maori artifacts, and a chocolate shop. Robin sold Honey Village but when the new owners closed the operation down, Robin re-established a honey retail business in the Wairakei Park region. He purchased the old Country Hall of Fame building (still within the Wairakei Park, near Huka Falls) shortly before he died in 1992. The retail store remains in this location and is called Honey Hive.
Robin Jansen’s daughter, Kris, set up the Kapiti store at the Lindale Centre in 1995 and the Wellington store in 2004. The Kapiti store was sold under license in 2007, and the Wellington store will also be eventually sold under licence next year. The Honeyco Production Facility is in the process of being relocated to North Canterbury in the South Island, where it will be closer to its honey suppliers. Kris intends to establish a Honeyco store in the Christchurch region soon.
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