Australia and New Zealand are locked in a battle over ownership of the word ‘manuka’ as the expensive honey’s popularity booms.

In a champagne-esque war, New Zealand is moving to make manuka honey its own, prompting Australian honey-makers to form a new alliance and fight back.

The honey, which some believe has healing qualities when ingested or applied, is now so popular it has been locked down in supermarkets (pictured above).

@RossAndJohn In the last couple of weeks, bottles of the most powerful Manuka honey in Woolies have been put in little security boxes. pic.twitter.com/GpmJA0FRMT

— Johnny Boy (@GeeForce77) September 20, 2017

The Weekly Times has reported New Zealand’s peak honey manuka body recently told members it intended to “get the rights to the term manuka honey”.

Australia’s honey-makers have hit back hard, telling Ross and John it’s a ludicrous suggestion.

“We had manuka honey here in Australia for thousands and thousands of years before New Zealand was born,” Lindsay Bourke, from the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, said.

“We were producing Manuka honey eight years before New Zealand even got beehives.”

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