Page 19 - Food and Drink Business Magazine May 2019

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CLOCKWISE FROM MAIN: Judges and finalists in the industry’s annual Innovation Challenge, in the macadamia orchard at The Farm, Byron Bay; ‘Britty Macaddy Chikki’ macadamia nut brittle; and Purple Sesadamia Butter.
✷
DID YOU KNOW?
INDUSTRY FOCUS
CRACKING THE SHELL
The first macadamia plantation
was established in the 1880s.
Commercial production wasn’t viable until the 1950s when mechanised processing began.
• Therearemorethansixmilliontrees
covering 17,000 hectares in Australia.
• Itistheonlynativeplantcroptobe developed commercially as a food.
• Roughly70percentoftotalproductionis exported to 40 countries.
• It takes up to 10 years for a tree to reach maturity and maximum yield. Nuts ripen between March and September and fall to the ground.
• The nuts have antioxidants like manganese and copper which can slow the ageing process. They have no cholesterol.
• It takes 100 kilograms of nuts to make 40 kilograms of premium-grade oil which is suitable as a table and cooking oil.
• The biological control of the Trichogramma wasp has helped the 70 per cent of farmers using it to contain nut borer crop loss to eight per cent.
of gourmet macadamia cereal and snack products; Dr. Kiyoko Kubomura, president of Kubomura Food Advisory Consultants Japan; Ben Kolly, technical and product manager for Haigh’s Chocolate; and Emma Welsh, the co-founder of Emma
& Tom’s healthy drinks
and snacks.
For Pam Brook, who started in the macadamia industry 30 years ago, the event is inspiring in how it showcases the industry’s continual growth.
“This year’s level of creativity in the Innovation Challenge was even higher than last years, as we challenged the best minds in the industry to come up with unique food concepts. It was truly a challenge for us as the judges to select the winners,” she says.
“CLEAN AND GREEN”
Australian Macadamia Society CEO Jolyon Burnett told Food & Drink Business the industry is committed to being as environmentally responsible aspossible.
“We are the only food product in the world that has 15 years of government testing to show we are residue free – that is, below detectable levels – in the world,” Burnett says.
The industry has been involved in the federal governmnet’s national residue survey for 15 years with 100 per cent compliance, unmatched by any other nut or fresh product industry.
The compliance means all producers have met the appropriate use of agricultural chemicals and minimised envionmental contamination.
Burnett says that food safety is an important market differentiator, particularly for export markets such as Japan.
Nut consumption has been growing about five per cent year on year for the last 15 years, Burnett says.
“We export a lot, so we’re not competing on a static domestic market. If we grow more, we export more.
“Our macadamias are ‘first preference purchase’ across everymarket.” ✷
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www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | May 2019 | Food&Drink business | 19
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