In shell Brazilian macadamia nuts perform really well in the Chinese market. “It has been a good year production wise. We haven’t experienced any extreme weather conditions, just the right amount of rains and no harsh winters. This resulted in high production volumes and good quality”, states Marco Russo from Macadamia Brazil.
When they first started cultivating the macadamia nuts commercially, Marco explained, a lot of work needed to done. An important issue was establishing the export markets. “At this moment we are mainly exporting to China. We export 1 container of in shell macadamia nuts each week, but soon that’s going to be doubled. It’s only China that is used to importing in shell macadamia. We notice demand from other countries, however, these countries prefer processed nuts. Processed means to say taken out of the shell, sorted, washed and packed, for example. At the moment we are looking into this investment.”
According to Marco, the macadamia is the queen of all nuts. As it has the most flavour and it’s healthiest and most flexible for baking, producing oil and cosmetics. “Australia is known for macadamia nuts, therefore it’s major competition for Brazil. However, importers pay higher prices for the Australian nuts. Our price level isn’t as high, but prices are increasing as our quality is increasing. This is the result of the growing demand for our Macadamia. At the moment there is a shortage of macadamia in the market and demand keeps growing.”
These increasing prices and growing demand, make the macadamia business an attractive market for Brazilian growers. “A lot of coffee is produced all over the world, prices are low and returns are lower every year. Therefore, some coffee growers in Brazil are deciding to switch to the macadamia production. As many of them are in the transition right now, it’s difficult to say how much hectares of production there is. The total production and quality is growing as we increase production every year”, concludes Marco.
