Macadamia Nuts

How Are Macadamia Nuts Created and Transported to Your Dinner Plate?

Macadamia nuts, also referred to as “Queensland nuts”, are a tropical tree nut grown primarily in Australia and Hawaii, but also in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, and Tanzania. Macadamia nuts have a hard, creamy texture, and a distinct, buttery flavor. With their delightful taste and texture, it's no wonder why Macadamia nuts have become a global favorite.

Have you ever wondered how Macadamia nuts go from a tree to your dinner plate? What is the process they must endure before being enjoyed as snacks, incorporated into pastries and dishes, and even used as a cooking or frying oil? Let's examine the journey of a Macadamia nut from farm to plate.

The process begins on the farm, with the planting of the Macadamia nut trees. These trees thrive best in regions with altitudes between 1000 and 4000 feet, temperature ranges between 16 and 32°C, and rainfall between 40 and 120 inches per year. Although Macadamias can be propagated from seeds, the most common method of breeding is through grafting. To ensure a variety of strong, productive, and disease- and pest-resistant Macadamias, farmers will use different grafting techniques.

Once the Macadamia tree is established in the ground, farmers can instantly reap the benefits – not only in the form of food, but also as an income-generating crop. Macadamias must then be monitored, pruned, and fertilized. Mature trees must be watered through irrigation to promote the flowering of the tree and the production of fruits.

The flower of the Macadamia tree appears 3 to 4 years after planting, at which point the flowers must be pollinated in order for the trees to produce fruits – the Macadamia nut, of course. Depending on the nut tree variety, one tree can produce up to 100 kilos of fresh, edible nuts.

Harvesting of the Macadamia nuts is done by hand, so as to ensure that the nuts are carefully plucked from the tree with minimal damage. Macadamia nuts have a hard shell and are retained better in the tree than many other nuts. To make sure they remain intact, they are often threshed or beaten off the tree using a broom or racket. The nuts, encased in a thick, fibrous husk, must be collected and placed into large, shallow trays called gatherers.

Once the Macadamias are harvested, the next step is to hull the nuts. This involves separating the nut from its husk through a tumbling action that loosens the husk's fibrous coating. Afterward, pressing machines crush the macadamia nuts, followed by a high-pressure machine to separate the kernel from the shell.

Once separated, the Macadamia kernels (or pieces) must be sorted, cleaned, sterilized, dried, and packed according to variety, size and quality. During this period, the specially-formulated machines and natural processes used to process the Macadamias play an integral role in the journey to your plate. After the Macadamia nuts are prepared and packaged, they are then shipped to their destination.

Macadamia nuts are often exported to countries all over the world, including the U.S., Canada, Korea, Japan, Singapore, and the Netherlands, to name a few. The nuts travel by sea, air or land, depending on the destination and other factors such as cost and transit times. By the time they reach their destination, Macadamia nuts are stored under ideal conditions while awaiting their turn to be processed and prepared for sale.

The final step of the journey is reaching your dining plates. Depending on the package, Macadamia nuts can be enjoyed in their raw form or used in recipes from a variety of cuisines. Sometimes packaged roasted, these Macadamia nuts are used in desserts, savory dishes, confections, salads, and many more dishes.

Macadamias may also be processed into nut butter, nut paste, nut oil, nut meal, and more. These products offer up a wealth of versatility for foodies and chefs around the globe, who use them to enhance the flavor of countless dishes.

It’s an exciting journey from farm to plate for the Macadamia nut - one filled with a lot of steps and people dedicated to this special nut’s success. From the planters who sow the Macadamia nut seed and create the perfect growing conditions, to the lab workers responsible for sorting and packaging the nut kernels, to the transporters who deliver the Macadamia nuts all over the world, there is a lot of hard work involved in getting them to your dinner plate.

Wherever the nut ends up, one thing is certain: it’s a magical journey of deliciousness and a reminder of the global network of laborers and scientists that bring these little Macadamia nuts to your plate.