Goodwood Produce is a small Australian family-owned-and-run business that prides itself on delivering the best quality product to the customer, with our love of bees as the focal point.
It is a boutique apiary nestled in a unique spot in the Wallum Scrub, sheltered by the World Heritage, Fraser Island. Bees are not trucked from site to site. The bees are clustered in shelters to reduce the impact of weather affecting the hives.
High-quality, heat-free honey
Goodwood Produce uses zero heat, not even a hot knife, in the extraction process ensuring the quality of the honey. All our honey is tested with a refractometer gauging water content before selling to make sure that it meets our high standards. With all the MGO honey harvested from our own bee site, Goodwood Produce gets this honey tested annually, by the University of Sunshine Coast (USC).
The story of Goodwood Produce
After years of pain from an injury that Will suffered while serving in the NAVY, one of his friends suggested he should sting himself with a bee as a form of pain relief. Will thought this was a crazy idea but having trust in his mate he gave it ago. To Will’s surprise, it worked! Intrigued by what had happened John and Will looked further into bees and got their 1st two hives. The more the boys looked into honey and bees, the more they fell in love with them. This enthusiasm rubbed off on Kylie and Judy. Kylie then saw an opportunity to turn this into a business and share what they have learnt with as many people as they can.
Our vision for top-quality honey
The vision of Goodwood Produce is to provide the best quality product at a good price. With the mission of educating as many people as they can about the value of bees, honey, and bee products, as well as explaining that Manuka honey is ok but here in Australia we can do better. In Australian coastal heaths, there are many Leptospermum species like Leptospermum Polygalifolium which can yield a much higher grade/quality MGO honey than coming from New Zealand and their only Leptospermum, Manuka.
We're joining APOD to recognise those who serve with everyday savings
As a Veteran, Will has a strong belief in looking after and supporting Veterans like himself and offers veterans a 5% discount. Goodwood Produce is joining APOD to recognise those who serve with everyday savings. Visit APOD For veteran discount code.
To the general community, we provide services like swarm removal free as well as value and quality for their money. At this moment we are hoping to provide an Api-therapy room above eight or more beehives free to customers.
“We have also developed a hive that people with certain disabilities can use so they can enjoy bees, feel productive, and benefit from Bio-resonance therapy (the humming of bees).”
Will Robertshaw, owner of Goodwood Produce
Our partnership with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC)
Goodwood Produce started working with the University of Sunshine Coast when Simon Williams was working on his thesis. After Simon finished his thesis and moved on, USC continued testing honey for Australian apiarists as part of their CRC on honeybee products.
Our main contact there is with Dr Peter Brooks, a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) and Lead Scientist with the USC Honey Research Lab. His team of research students and scientists are developing methods and analysing biomarkers and active components of Australian Leptospermum honey.
(Williams, S. (2018). A Beekeeper's Guide to Australian Leptospermum Trees and Honey. University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Qld. Source >>). View a slideshow presentation from Simon.