GROWING MACADAMIAS

With the popularity of this delicious nut being incorporated into gourmet dishes worldwide and popular as a raw natural snack Nutworks Processors are rapidly expanding to meet public demand.

Macadamias are the only native plant food crop of Australia that has been developed commercially as a food. The plantations are centered in Northern New South Wales and South eastern Queensland which provides them with high annual rainfalls and rich soils that are needed to provide maximum growth.

Macadamia trees grow slowly to heights of 12-15 metres. They have shiny dark thick leaves and long racemes of sweet smelling flowers of white or pink blossoms. The raceme produce from four to fifteen 'nutlets' which eventually mature into Nuts. The Nuts grow encased in a hard woody shell which is protected by a green-brown fibrous husk. Nuts fall to the ground each year between March and September and are harvested at regular times by pin wheel harvester.

DEHUSKING & DRYING

The fibrous outer green husk of Macadamia is removed within 24 hours of harvest to reduce heat respiration and to facilitate drying. The husk material is recycled as organic garden mulch and the nut in shell is sent to the commercial processors. Drying is a critical step in the macadamia processing chain, it maximises shelf life and assures quality of the end product. The harvest finds Nuts with moisture content of up to 30%. Drying can take up to 3 weeks and finally reduces the moisture content to around 1.5%. The nut shrinks away from the inside of the shell and allows the shells to be cracked without damaging the nuts.

CRACKING

Processing of the Macadamia nut began early in Australia with enthusiasts cracking by hand. The first Macadamia Nut processing plant was not established until 1954. Machines have now been developed to crack the nuts tough outer casing without damaging the precious kernel within. These machines have either a fixed blade and cutting blade, or a combination of rollers and a base plate to compress the shell.

SORTING AND ROASTING

Macadamia kernels are sorted by hand for quality assurance into styles and grades appropriate for raw or roasted product and are vacuum sealed capturing taste and healthy goodness then packaged for retail and wholesale customers

SEALED FRESH PACKAGING

NUTWORKS' Australian Macadamias are ripened by the tropical Queensland sun, harvested and are vacuum packed immediately for fresh quality guaranteed products, sealing in flavour and healthy goodness to enjoy in your recipes and snacks. The Macadamia Nut is grown on local farms and transported to Nutworks processing plant. From our visitor viewing area see the nuts being machine cracked, hand graded then packaged for retail and wholesale customers. Also in our visitor viewing area we offer an informative Video Show for those who wish to take a closer look at this amazing nut!

MARKETING AND EXPORT

The Nature of the Macadamia Nut industry in Australia is such that it requires a significant level of professional skill amongst growers, processors and marketers. The importance of the industry to the Australian economy in terms of its contribution to local employment and investment as well as domestic and export markets cannot be overstated. It is estimated that the current market value of the Australian crop on the domestic and export makes is over A$100m. This makes it one of Australia's largest hoticultural industries. As the total world production of Macadamias accounts for less than 2% of the total world trade in tree nuts there is considerable scope for future expansion.    

The Industry in Australia is evolving and expanding rapidly as production increases. With an estimated production of
30,000 tonne for the year 2000 and increased competition from developing countries in Central America and Southern Africa, Australia must continue to foster its repuation as a producer of high quality Macadamia nuts. Australia's market share should increase as a result of the current emphasis on scientific research into improving crop yields, production methods and processing efficiencies.

Australian exporters have developed major markets for bulk raw macadamia nuts in many different grades, value added products and retail packs. In excess of 60% of nut kernels produced in Australia is directly exported to the world market. The Australian market has expanded enormously in recent years with many new high quality value added products available.