A boutique family-run Bay of Plenty honey maker has taken out the People's Choice Award at the Apiculture New Zealand National Honey Competition in Rotorua.

The win came as a complete surprise to Jody Mitchell from Kaimai Range Honey.

'There were three other entries that I had thought were outstanding,” says Jody.

'Our Tawari honey takes a little time for all the flavours to develop, so I imagined we wouldn't get as many votes with people wandering along tasting all the honeys.”

The conference hosted 700 delegates from the apiculture industry at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre on June 29-30 and all were invited to vote for their favourite honey in a blind taste test.

'Crowd favourite (People's Choice) is a really neat one to win, actually,” says Jody.

'It's a genuine reflection of what people really like in the taste and feel of a honey.”

Tawari is a native tree that grows about 300 metres above sea level through the Kaimai-Mamaku Ranges and through to Gisborne.

'It's a very specific and unique honey. It's very light, sweet and delicate tasting with a lingering finish of chocolate and almond notes.

'It's completely luscious.Just a gorgeous honey that we only sell at the Tauranga Farmers Market.”

Head judge Maureen Conquer says the quality of honey improved again this year with very few points separating the top three entrants.

The Supreme Award winner was Timaru-based Jarved Allan from The Mānuka Collective, who took away the award for the third year in a row.