Wellness guru, Professor Marc Cohen, has joined the board at Gather By, specialists in Manuka honey production.

In his role, Cohen will work on the development of an entirely new line of health products.

"I'm excited to be joining the board of Gather By and working with the Gather By team to produce a range of herbal-honey products for the world market," he said.

"I look forward to learning how to optimise Medicinal Honey Forests to grow medicinal herbs, including many Australian native botanicals, to provide year-round bee-forage that's super healthy for bees, humans and the communities in which they are situated," said Cohen.

Gather By is a closed-loop regenerative agribusiness that works with beekeepers, farmers and indigenous landholders along the east coast of Australia to produce and market rare, pure and potent Australian Manuka honey.

In the last five years, Gather By’s team of specialists have tested thousands of plants for their antibacterial and antibiotic strength, geocoding plant locations and sending cuttings to specialised plant propagation nurseries.

Gather By then works with landholders, to grow these special plants and produce nectar. After a few years, honey bees are brought in by Gather By, while local beekeepers extract the honey.

This biodiverse planting model is called the Medicinal Honey Forest – a name Gather Be has trademarked – and includes multiple varieties of Leptospermum plus bee fodder plants, designed to keep the bees in situ, healthy and strong and to bring regenerate Australia's native fauna.

The Manuka honey that Gather By collects is packed into jars containing MGO levels of 100, 250, 500, 800, 1000 and 2100 – the most potent available in the world.

The lower MGOs are consumed for taste, general health and wellness, the higher MGOs have medicinal and therapeutic benefits.

"We're thrilled to have Professor Cohen on board championing the health benefits of our medicinal and therapeutic honey while jointly developing new Manuka honey-based products" said the Gather By team.

"A true pioneer in Australia’s integrative and holistic medicine, Dr Marc has made significant contributions to education, research, clinical practice, and public policy.

"With a remarkable background as a registered medical practitioner, coupled with degrees in western medicine, physiology, and psychological medicine, along with PhDs in Chinese medicine and biomedical engineering, Marc has been a leading expert in the field of integrative medicine for over three decades."

Gather By is reinvigorating Australia’s honey industry and is exporting 80 per cent of its products to meet global demand for medicinal Manuka, which is used for everything from healing infections, burns and wounds, to soothing sore throats, and boosting gut health and immunity.

Background

Cohen was also named medical director of Peninsula Hot Springs in September 2022. He is a published children's book author.