11. What is critical in managing the competitive environment?

Defining the Market

When you decide to take a product global, the first challenge is to define your market. Without clarity, you don’t know who you’re competing against—or how you’ll win. For instance, in Manuka Health, this meant positioning ourselves not simply as a honey company, but as a player in consumer healthcare, specifically the self-medication segment we called “natural healthcare.”

That decision broadened our competitive landscape. We weren’t just up against other honey producers. Suddenly, our rivals included supplement companies, functional food brands, and even pharmaceutical players. It was daunting, but it also gave us access to a market growing at nearly 8 percent annually—from $503 billion in 2012 to a projected $736 billion in 2017. Even capturing a fraction of that would far exceed our supply capacity and still be profitable. This is a key decision for New Zealand entrepreneurs in developing their global strategies.

Riding Market Trends

Our strategy hinged on trends driving demand for self-medication. Consumers wanted products that were more natural, easier to use, and accessible without a doctor’s visit. That shift created space for manuka honey—not as a pantry item, but as part of a self-care routine. We weren’t just selling honey anymore; we were selling a way for people to manage their health on their own terms.

Differentiating the Business Model

Defining the market is one thing; competing in it is another. The question we kept asking was: How do we differentiate? For us, differentiation came through science. Marketing on methylglyoxal (MGO) levels gave us credibility, and building a vertically integrated supply chain gave us reliability. Together, these created a business model that stood apart from traditional honey producers and even many supplement companies.

The Power of First-Mover Advantage

The decision to brand manuka honey on MGO levels was more than a marketing tactic—it was a disruptive move that redefined the industry. By the time competitors began asking to license the trademark, we had already secured the benefits of being first. Eventually, we even allowed others to use “MGO” outside licensing arrangements, because by then the credibility of the approach strengthened our position as the leader. By 2022, more users were familiar with MGO than with UMF, the grading system we had disrupted.

First-mover advantage is a double-edged sword. It opens doors, but it also provokes reactions. When we launched our disruptive MGO strategy, competitors scrambled to counter us. Some went as far as spreading misinformation. We responded aggressively, even producing a “tell-all” newspaper that exposed the truth and neutralized much of the pushback.

Managing Competitor Reactions

If there’s one certainty in business, it’s that competitors will respond when you threaten their position. That response often comes not from overseas players, but from domestic ones who feel your presence most acutely. For Manuka Health, much of the resistance originated in New Zealand. Larger international companies didn’t see us as a threat—at least not until we started competing for market share in their home territories.

This taught me an important lesson: if you want to play at the top, you must be prepared for competitor activity, sometimes fierce and even hostile. The key is to anticipate it, stay focused on your strengths, and never let the noise distract you from your strategic path.

Expanding the Market

While defending our position, we also kept pushing to expand the total market. Manuka honey had started as a niche product in the 1990s. By 2020, thanks to international awareness and category development, New Zealand total exports had grown to $325 million. That expansion didn’t just benefit us; it lifted the entire industry.

Our decision to promote MGO broadly helped make manuka honey a category recognized worldwide. Even if competitors gained, so did we. Growing the pie meant everyone’s slice got bigger, and as the brand most closely associated with science and credibility, we often gained more than our rivals.

Lessons in Competing Globally

Looking back, managing the competitive environment required a balance between offence and defence. We had to defend against misinformation, protect our brand, and manage hostile competitor behaviour. At the same time, we had to keep innovating, expanding, and finding ways to grow the market.

The takeaway? 

Competing globally is not just about having a great product. It’s about defining your market, differentiating your model, securing first-mover advantages, and preparing for competitor pushback. Most importantly, it’s about playing the long game—expanding the market so that your business isn’t just fighting for share, but helping create new demand altogether.

Key Takeaways:

• Define your market clearly—it determines your competitors and strategy.

• Ride consumer trends that create sustainable demand.

• Differentiate your business model through credibility and reliability.

• First-mover advantage can reshape an industry, but expect strong reactions.

• Competitors often attack locally before global players take notice.

• Expanding the market can sometimes be the best defence against competition.

Your next read in the series 12. Why Build a Global Brand?

Building Global Businesses

A fuller explanation on this subject is outlined in my book “Going Global” www.goglobal.co.nz