Woolworths is again selling fake honey in a scam involving Capilano Honey Pty Ltd (now known Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd), their owners Kerry Stokes, Kevin Rudd’s son-in-law Albert Tse and others.
The global food fraud scam conspiracy entails importing fake honey and selling it in Australia, only at Woolworths at this point, via a new brand called Cloverdale Honey which is 90% imported fake honey. They are also exporting it overseas under what seems to be the false impression it is 100% Australian Honey.
I put questions to Woolworths, their CEO Brad Banducci and Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd (formerly Capilano Honey Pty Ltd) but they failed to respond even though they knew I would be making the allegations that I am in this article.
Hive and Wellness Australia (Capilano Honey) and Woolworths have a long history of selling fake honey which is worth reviewing but let’s deal with their latest scam first, the new Cloverdale Honey.
Cloverdale Honey
I noticed the Cloverdale Honey at Woolworths on Saturday (29-3-20) after Capilano had flagged selling a new brand in an email to the honey suppliers a few weeks ago which was leaked to me. A check on the bottle revealed it was made by Honey Corporation of Australia at 399 Archerfield Rd, Richlands QLD which is one of the holding companies used by Capilano Honey Pty Ltd (now known Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd). They have used numerous company names for many years to conceal from customers what they are really up to.
The labelling on the bottle also claims that the honey is “at least 10% Australian honey” and that the honey is “sourced predominantly from the rainforests of South America”. These claims are coming from the same company that has a well-known history of selling fake honey via their Allowrie Honey brand and only stopped after independent testing proving it was fake became public knowledge.
Selling Cloverdale Honey into Asia
They are also selling Cloverdale Honey into Asia with different labelling which implies that Cloverdale Honey is 100% Australian Honey.
Capilano has a long history of using weasel words with their marketing where they imply something without actually saying it so they can backtrack later if they get caught out. The bottle below is the Cloverdale Honey on a website that says they are selling it in Hong Kong and claim it is 100% Australian Honey
Below is another Cloverdale Honey bottle labelled with Chinese writing which only says 100% Pure Honey but no mention if it is Australian honey. But the website it is on says “Australian original Cloverdale eucalyptus flowers mixed honey” which is different further down the page where it says “Country of origin: Other”.
On the side of the bottle it says, “All honey from Australia” with the company name “Honey Products” and then gives Capilano’s mailing address of Po Box 531 Inala Qld 4077.
My guess is that the Honey being sold into Asia is the same Cloverdale Honey being sold here which is 90% imported fake honey but when it’s sold into Asia they give the impression it is 100% Australian produced honey which is a lie.
It’s all very strange, but that’s how they roll and have done so for years. They played the exact same game with Allowrie Honey. They use many different honey labels, names and amounts of imported honey in the product and then changed it all again for their overseas shipments to keep consumers confused if they ask questions.
Capilano’s long history of selling fraudulent and toxic honey
Capilano CEO Ben McKee and Albert Tse
Capilano Honey Pty Ltd (now known Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd) has a long history of selling fake and toxic honey. In 2008 and 2011 Channel Seven’s Today Tonight program broadcast unchallenged claims that Capilano Honey was selling polluted and poisonous honey. Channel Seven was and is still owned by Kerry Stokes so they wouldn’t lie about Capilano.
I used the two Channel 7 stories to have the super-injunction, suppression orders and non-publication orders lifted in Capilano’s and Ben McKee’s defamation and injurious falsehood case against me. When a judge of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal lifted the court orders and referenced the Channel Seven shows as one reason why the suppression orders should be lifted Seven deleted the two stories off their website. But they are still on this website. (Click here to read more or watch the Seven broadcasts)
Capilano Honey and their CEO Ben McKee (now COO of the parent company) instituted defamation and injurious falsehood proceeding and me in October 2016. This was after I reported they had instituted defamation and injurious falsehood proceedings against beekeeper Simon Mulvany for an article I published titled “Australia’s Capilano Honey admit selling toxic and poisonous honey to consumers“. The article also documented Canada and India previously finding Capilano’s honey being dangerous in 2003 and 2010.
What really stands out showing that senior management and the owners of Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd know they are selling fake and dangerous honey is the fact that there is a reverse onus of proof with their Injurious falsehood case against me. That means they have to prove that my claims that they have sold fake and poisonous honey is untrue. But when they filed their evidence to support their claim, I published it and wrote an article pointing point their evidence actually supports my claims.
So Capilano ran off to court and had suppression orders and non-publication orders issued to make me take the article down so the public could not see the evidence they claim shows their honey is safe for consumers. (Click here to read more)
Woolworths the food fraud people
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci
Woolworths and their CEO Brad Banducci are no saints, in fact they are major league criminals. They also have a long history of selling fake and poisonous food to the Australian public which I have written about numerous time. Brad Banducci has been with Woolworths since 2011 and CEO since February 2016 and the food fraud at the company has his fingerprints all over it.
It’s worth noting that Coles stopped selling the fake Allowrie Honey in July 2018 and started selling only Australian honey after a social media campaign had been running for a couple of years. The campaign was started by Simon Mulvany with me and this website joining and taking the lead in the campaign in September 2016 as suppression orders had silenced Simon Mulvany to a large degree although not totally.
I ignored the super-injunction and suppression orders taken out against me as I believed it was in the public interest to do so which led to Capilano asking the judge to have me jailed for contempt for the crime of journalism.
During this period Woolworths continued to sell the fake Allowrie Honey to customers and only stopped when independent testing proved the Allowrie Honey was fake which forced Capilano to withdraw the product in January 2019.
Woolworths also had Capilano make the Woolworths Macro brand honey which was also fake imported honey which Woolworths stopped selling last year. (Click here to read more)
In June 2018 I published an article titled “Woolworths organic food scam” outlining some of Woolworths’ food fraud with honey and other products. I also published the below video as part of the article. The video is relevant to this article as it shows Capilano and Woolworths haven’t changed their spots.
I sent Woolworths media division and the CEO Mr Brad Banducci the below email a few days ago. They haven’t responded. I also sent the same email to the CEO Ryan d’Almeida and COO Ben McKee at Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd and they have also not responded which is consistent for them.
From: SHANE DOWLING
Sent: 31 March 2020 13:25
To: bbanducci@woolworths.com.au; media@woolworths.com.au
Subject: Media questions: Woolworths selling fake honey again via the Cloverdale Honey brand
Dear Mr Banducci
I have some questions for an article I will be publishing regarding Woolworths again selling fake honey in conjunction with Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd (formerly Capilano Honey Pty Ltd) via the Cloverdale Honey brand which is 90% imported honey. The working title for the article is “Woolworths involved in global food fraud scam conspiracy with Capilano Honey, Kerry Stokes, Kevin Rudd’s son-in-law, Albert Tse and others”
My questions are:
- Why is Woolworths again selling imported honey from the same supplier, Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd (formerly Capilano Honey Pty Ltd), who previously supplied the fake honey brand Allowrie Honey.
- Given Allowrie Honey was proven to be fake imported Chinese honey by independent testing in 2018, which led to Capilano to cease production of Allowrie Honey, what precaution have Woolworths taken to make sure the Cloverdale Honey is not fake?
- Will Woolworths again start selling the fake Woolworths owned Macro brand honey which Woolworths previously had Hive and Wellness Australia Pty Ltd (formerly Capilano Honey Pty Ltd) produce for Woolworths.
- Given Coles started selling only Australian Honey in July 2018 why has Woolworths again started selling fake imported honey?
Can you please respond by 5pm today (Queensland time) in case I have further follow-up questions.
Regards
Shane Dowling
I also wrote to Hive and Wellness CEO Ryan d’Almeida and COO Ben McKee on the 14th of March asking some questions after I was leaked their plans for a new fake imported honey and they once again refused to respond. (Click here to read more)
Woolworths, their CEO Brad Banducci, Hive and Wellness, Kerry Stokes and Albert Tse and the other owners and managers obviously have designs of making huge profits from selling fake honey but it is time the government and proper authorities stepped up to stop it. But while we have a weak government Woolworths, Banducci, Stokes, Tse and the others will continue food fraud they have profited from for years. They might go silent for a while like when they were caught selling the fake Allowrie Honey but as per the above, they will just start up again later using different brands and names etc.
My injurious falsehood and defamation legal battles with Capilano Honey and Ben McKee are listed for hearing for 3 days starting on the 25th of May 2020. It’ll be in Sydney while I’m in Queensland on the phone so I’ll record and publish it as I have before so you can hear how corrupt it is.
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Categories: Capilano Honey, Kerry Stokes, Woolworths
I cannot understand why these incredibly greedy people relinquish their possibly good name for the almighty dollar. They would prefer to be remembered as greedy self-serving money hungry people who care for nothing but their bank balances when, with those bank balances, they could do so much good… and be remembered with love and admiration like Fred Hollows, Weary Dunlop or Victor Chang and the many other heroes who gave so much of themselves for and to the world!
Shame on them!
Unfortunately Janelise a lot of people who make the important decisions are sociopaths and KS is another one. Look at the majority of our politicians. They are in it for themselves. People like Fred Hollows, Weary Dunlop and Victor Chang are/were good decent people as is the majority of our population. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, a lot of the decision makers aren’t decent people.
To KCA followers, we now have the Woolworths CEO, Brad Banducci’s, email address, lets all sending him an email & advise him that we will not shop at Woolies while it continues to sell these “fake” honeys & also that we will advise all our email contacts to follow suit. Then send this KCA email to all your contacts. It’s called PEOPLE POWER
I started growing my own food, thanks to companies like Woolworths and Capilano. In fairness though, not just because of them. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY has the slightest care about fake and mislabeled foods, their poison content or our health. $ is their ultimate goal.
But this is a multi dimensional picture – by poisoning you they also generate income for their partner companies: the pharmaceutical and “healthcare” (sickness) industries. The best way to get revenge on all of them is to cut their revenue. Remove the ornamentals in your garden and GROW YOUR OWN FOOD instead. Useful when the food supply is restricted too. Like now…
I like the way you think!
your exposure of the honey issue and other things are so good. i wish you all the best in exposing these frauds and criminals all the best keep it up
Thank you.
A new online supermarket chain needs to start up called All Australian, that only sells Australian made products. This would help us see how many gaps there are in the Australian manufacturing industry. It might shame the regular supermarkets into supporting Australian products too. On my last trip to Woolies I intentional left the imported lemon juice, imported jam and imported cotton tips on the shelf on principle. If woolies can’t be bothered sourcing and stocking these everyday items from Australian companies I am going to do without them even though I like them. I would urge every Australian housewife to do the same. As for our honey, I now source that straight from a local bee keeper who takes it out of his flow hive in front of me. Each week I am spending less at the supermarkets because I am tired of the fact that they won’t support Australian manufacturers.
What a brilliant article…thank you Linda. Hopefully you will stir up a few people into reading labels and buying only Australian products. I find my time In supermarkets has increased due to label scouring! It is daunting to say the least and disappointing to say more! Often when one find Made in Australia, reads further, only 10% is actually Australian product! I’m a great believer in People Power and if a majority of us stand firm…the message will get through!
Absolutely ! However Dick Smith tried and Australians did not support his superior products such as Peanut Butter because they generally are too tight or stupid or both. China and other countries along with the likes of Capilano, Woolworths etc rip us off with low prices but even lower quality such as what at best seems to be contaminated honey. China has scant regard for its own when it comes to contamination and even less for us and other nations Covid19 being a prime example.
Had our Liberal loonies government had proper controls in place we would not have the virus But what can one expect when they ignore the evidence of contaminated honey coming in.
Australia has to realize the mass of harms that have been created by the Supermarket duopoly over the past 40 plus years. It is they that have deviously exterminated a great many of Australia’s product manufacturers. EG; how many false advertising scams have been perpetrated through their advertising agency’s false claims, reports and attempts at credibility. (Capilano honey.)
Australia’s 2 major supermarkets should be confronted with their volumes of corporate breaches, then told to retreat back to Australian manufactured goods to include Australia’s Primary Industry sourced products.
Should they continue the corporate hustle…time will have arisen to send corporate board directors to extended terms in prison.
Corporate greed should not be permitted to dominate over Australia’s manufactured and Australian sourced domestic foods and products.
THANK YOU. Just threw the Cloverdale honey in the bin after wanting to eat honey. Previously threw the Allowrie in the bin. Just could not eat them. I now know why. Where are our regulators?
Come in ACCC and protect us!!