Steens Honey

Manuka flowers only open for a few short weeks of the year, and if conditions are just right, bees are able to harvest the nectar to make honey. 27+ UMF is one of the highest grades of Manuka honey, and limited amounts are available annually. Steens have developed their unique WholeComb extraction method to ensure more of the health benefits of the honey remain, which are generally lost through commercial honey pasteurising and filtration techniques. With such a special release, the product needed an equally special and bespoke piece of packaging.

Curator’s Insight

The dome closure is the centrepiece here, and it earns that role. Cut from a single sheet of pink board, the interlocking strips arch upward into a shape that reads simultaneously as a flower in bloom and a honeycomb cell in cross-section. It is the kind of structural detail that makes you want to open it slowly. The colour-blocked outer boxes take a different tonal register entirely, bold and playful where the dome is delicate, but the contrast works. It signals that the brand understands both the premium nature of the product and the joy of receiving a gift. The two parts feel like they belong to the same world without being too matchy, which is harder to achieve than it looks.