The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.

Paul, Entrepreneur and founder of Manuka Mountain is the driving force behind the success of the company. With over 30 years of beekeeping experience Paul pilots the business into the ever growing industry of New Zealand Manuka honey. His passion for team is evident with the ‘family atmosphere’ amongst Manuka Mountain’s employees. Honesty & integrity are values in which Paul holds very strongly.

Carmel daughter to the Founder, Paul Whitehead, manages the buying and selling side of the business having been with the company since 2013. She is passionate about customer satisfaction and oversees all of the accounts and day to day administration of the business and works closely with the Ministry of Primary Industries to ensure that all of Manuka Mountain’s honey meets the general export requirements.

James is a 4th generation beekeeper with over 10 years’ experience and manages the beekeeping teams at Manuka Mountain. James’ motivation and skilled beekeeping practices are behind the success of our amazing honey. James Schmidt’s passion for beekeeping flows down to the rest of the team who pride themselves with running the beehives with excellence and preserving the legacy of the land and bees.

Rueben has been with the company since 2011 and spent 7 years beekeeping before venturing into this role. He is responsible for finding new areas in Northland for the placement of our beehives and signing of contracts with our valued Land Owners. Rueben descends from Ngati Rehia and Ngati Kopaki and is passionate about giving back to the whenua (land) in which our honey comes from.

Rhys, son-in-law to owner Paul, manages the overall warehouse operations and team as well as the blending of all batches from start to completion. Rhys has a careful eye for cleanliness, health & safety and ensures the quality of our unique honey. Rhys runs the extraction and processing facility smoothly and efficiently.