News Release
September 3, 2003

Comvita Announces Shareholding In Medical Honey Company

Comvita New Zealand announced today it has purchased a 50 per cent shareholding in Cambridge based Api-Med Medical Honey Limited, a company whose medical grade honey products are being trialed in hospitals and clinics in the UK.

Api-Med is a joint venture between WaikatoLink, the commercial arm of the University of Waikato, and the manuka honey marketing company Bee and Herbal New Zealand Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, Bee and Herbal's health food business will merge with Comvita which will acquire all of the former's assets including its internationally recognised health food brand, 'Medi-Bee'.

The technological advance of honey as a practical and effective medical device is a key business strategy of Api-Med. This device is a manuka honey-based wound dressing incorporating advanced alginate technology in which the healing product is manufactured into a firm, user-friendly gel. New Zealand manuka honey with the UMF (unique manuka factor) rating is gaining worldwide recognition for its effectiveness in treating wounds.

Api-Med, in conjunction with its UK manufacturing partner Brightwake, recently achieved the CE mark, widely recognised as the medical device milestone and the UK registration which allows manuka honey dressings to be marketed directly to hospitals and clinics.

To support this, Api-Med has developed its Medical Honey Accredited Supplier Programme to ensure that only the highest quality honey is put forward to support what it describes as a unique, global market opportunity for manuka honey as a bone-fide medicine. Api-Med's plans include worldwide distribution into key medical markets.

Bee and Herbal's owner-operators Phil and Sharan Caskey say UMF manuka honey is becoming one of the most exciting natural products on the market for wound treatment.

They claim that not only has Api-Med been instrumental in developing the commercial pathway for honey as a medical device technology, but Bee and Herbal has successfully developed an auditable quality supplier system that involves landowners and beekeepers in the supply of high quality medical grade honey to the marketplace.

Comvita CEO Graeme Boyd says the opportunity to purchase a shareholding in such an innovative and aligned business as Api-Med is one his board and management team recognised as significant for the further development of unique products of New Zealand origin.

"The potential for these products in the medical honey field is huge," says Boyd. "They demonstrate the ability of natural products companies with strong research and development programmes to compete in the medical field.

"Comvita will add organisational and management strength to the company as well as providing access to growth capital through its planned listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange's new AX market in November.

"Bee and Herbal's business is strategic to Comvita. Their 'Medi-Bee' brand of manuka honey already has a very strong position in the UK health market and in Australia."

Gary Betteridge, CEO of WaikatoLink, says the Api-Med development is a significant commercialisation of the university's intellectual property in the use of honey in wound care.

"Our partnership with Bee and Herbal has seen the project develop from a concept to the stage where it is now very close to full commercialisation on a global scale," says Betteridge. "We now feel it is appropriate to let private companies get on with the production, marketing and sales of the technology."

Betteridge says one of the most pleasing aspects is that Comvita's involvement ensures the ownership of the technology remains firmly in New Zealand hands.

END

For more information, please contact:

Alan Bougen phone +64 021 386 972 or email alan.bougen@comvita.com

Phil Caskey phone +64 027 442 2451 or email philc@apimed.co.nz

July 3, 2003

Minister Lauds Market Leader's East Coast Iwi Initiative

Award-winning Comvita New Zealand yesterday presented East Coast iwi with a cheque for $11,700 representing the proceeds from the first collection of honey from beehives installed on Maori land at Waipiro Bay, East Cape.

Commenting on the ground-breaking initiative between Comvita and Ngati Porou, the Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Horomia, said from Parliament yesterday he congratulates all those involved in the project for their vision and the professionalism they have displayed.

"I always enjoy recognising the diverse talent and innovative programmes that our people are engaged in," said the Minister.

"This is a good example of iwi working together with a successful company to provide positive outcomes. Congratulations to Ngati Porou - especially those people from Waipiro Bay who had the foresight to give projects like this a chance."

Mr Horomia said Comvita is an example of a business that has gone from humble beginnings to one which was last month named Consumer Products Exporter of the Year for 2003.

In presenting the cheque to hapu representatives at the Kiekie Marae, Comvita CEO Graeme Boyd described the occasion as another step in an ongoing journey.

"The next step in the journey is for the land-owners involved to identify a suitable candidate, or candidates, to be trained in beekeeping," he said. "Comvita will assist with this process."

Comvita's executive director Alan Bougen reminded the land-owners the concept behind the initiative was for the hapu to eventually purchase the hives and run them as a stand-alone operation.
"This venture provides a wonderful opportunity for the land-owners around Waipiro Bay to produce active manuka honey on otherwise unproductive land," said Bougen.

More than 12,000kgs of honey was collected last January from the 300 beehives supplied by Comvita - a top result according to the company's operations manager, Chris Elmsly.

"The hives each yielded around 40kgs of honey," said Elmsly. "This as a very good start. The result reflected the excellent (honey collection) season Comvita enjoyed nationally."

Extraction of the honey from Waipiro Bay was carried out at beekeeper Stephen Weenink's Bay of Plenty extraction facility. The product was packaged at Comvita's Paengaroa manufacturing plant.

Only a small amount of the honey collected had the unique manuka factor (UMF), the special antibiotic property unique to manuka honey. This does not concern Elmsly who points out the vagaries of climate and other unknown factors could just as easily result in all next season's honey having a high UMF.

Manuka honey is taken for digestive health and used as a topical application to help heal wounds. Comvita's WoundCare product is becoming increasingly popular, here and overseas, as its healing properties become known.

Graeme Boyd said the positive start to the East Cape project bodes well for duplicating this (project) with other iwi in areas where manuka thrives - such as Northland and parts of the central North Island.

The East Cape project began last year with the delivery of 300 hives, along with their resident bees, to strategic locations around Waipiro Bay. The hives, valued at approximately $40,000, were sourced from the South Island to avoid varroa mite problems.

End

News Release
June 23, 2003

Comvita Announces Intention To Be Among First To List On The New AX

Complementary health products market leader and Unlisted Securities Market issuer Comvita New Zealand plans to be one of the first companies to list on the NZX's new AX (Alternative Exchange) when it opens in August.

Riding high after winning a prestigious Trade New Zealand export award last week, Comvita is confident listing on the new market will lift the company's profile for the benefit of investors with an interest in the growth of natural health products.

"Listing on the AX will make us more public and give us better access to capital," according to Bill Bracks, chairman of Comvita.

Speaking from the company's Bay of Plenty headquarters today, Bracks says Comvita's Board has agreed to the new listing as part of the company's continuing growth strategy.

"If we continue to grow at our historical rate, there will be no problem in accessing high levels of funding where that is necessary" he asserts.

"There will be more share trades and wider shareholdings which will be linked to higher profits. A broader shareholder base will become a strength of the company."

Comvita's CEO Graeme Boyd agrees and adds that the company needs further investment. "The USM has provided a vehicle for shareholders to value and trade their shares," says Boyd. "It succeeded in that. We've gone from two shareholders in 1998 to 132 in 2003."

Since listing on the USM, Comvita's shares have been trading around $1.15 and $1.20.

Bill Bracks points out that the AX is being developed by the NZX (formerly the NZSE) to facilitate a more cost-effective, flexible public capital raising facility for New Zealand companies. He says Comvita is right behind the NZX in its efforts to create a market that will act as a catalyst for growth in New Zealand's capital markets.

"As an unlisted company, we feel the AX offers major advantages for Comvita," he says. "Aside from the obvious advantages of lower costs and streamlined processes, an AX listing will give us more liquidity."

Bracks is keen to see Comvita take a lead in listing on the new market. "If we're not the first to list, we'll certainly be the first natural health products company to list."

END