Opportunities and Trends In the Macadamia Industry
While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted all nut industries, in terms of production, there has been minimal impact on the macadamia industry. Macadamia production, demand, and supply chain have remained steady during the global lockdown.
The market is growing quickly with the growing importance of healthy eating. Consumers are choosing nuts as a healthy snack option and incorporating them into their daily diets.
In addition, organic macadamia is also gaining popularity, with increasing demand coming majorly from European countries. The wide application of processed macadamia in different industrial segments, such as the food and beverage and cosmetics, and personal care industries, also augment the growth of these nuts in the global market.
Australia, Hawaii in the United States, and South Africa are the largest macadamia production regions globally. Few other growing regions include Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
What Opportunities Await
The rising demand for the commodity and the shortage of supply in the global market lead to discrepancies in the demand-supply situation of the commodity. Because of this, there is a dire need for investments in the industry and contributions from government organizations, which may act as a growth catalyst for the development of the market.
For instance, the Australian Macadamia Society, a government horticulture organization with the macadamia levy fund, has successfully developed 'Mactrix' to control the macadamia nut-borer macadamia industry to have one of the highest rates of adoption of integrated pest management.
It has also published its research works, grower meetings, and conferences to spread the message to increase the adoption of the latest and best-practice methods for macadamia cultivation.
The Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association has also researched nutrient management and leaf sampling, integrated pest management, orchard floor, canopy management, micronutrient management, and many more.
One such project was on fertilizing macadamia, which included all the critical factors affecting fertilizing, important soils in macadamia nuts, nutrient status, soil analysis, tissue concentration for bearing macadamia nuts, and other factors.
Australia Coming Out As A Market Leader
The production of macadamia in Australia amounted to 14,800 metric tons in 2018. The Australian macadamia crops have grown steadily since 2015, driven largely by sustained investment in productivity improvements and doubling the export of tree nuts since 2013.
According to the Australian Macadamia Society, currently, the industry has about 6 million trees covering an area of 16,000 hectares varying in tree ages, with approximately 850 macadamia growers supporting the production of macadamia nuts in Australia.
The country has approximately 70.0% of the world’s macadamia production, and it has been exporting the crop to more than 40 countries worldwide. The changing consumer preferences toward nutritious diets, coupled with the growing importance of macadamia nuts in the international markets, are likely to drive the market for macadamia nuts.
