The Daily News Article on emacadamia - Taranaki, New Zealand

...the Daily News...

Macadamias prove a cracking idea

09 August 2004

By KRYSTI WETTON

The owners of Taranaki's only macadamia nut factory have travelled the world to find nuts best suited to grow in the region's environment.

Bill and Christine Charteris became serious about growing macadamia nuts after their kiwifruit orchard, on Surrey Hill Rd, was damaged by Cyclone Bola in 1988.

In 1992, they removed the kiwifruit vines, which were proving uneconomical, to develop a 10ha macadamia nut orchard. But the couple found little information available on the nuts, so they started their own investigations.

Christine & Bill Charteris - Owners

GROWING BUSINESS: Christine and Bill Charteris in their macadamia nut orchard on Surrey Hill Rd, near Oakura.
NIC GIBSON/The Daily News

Macadamia nuts are native to subtropical rainforests on Australia's East coast and grow on an evergreen tree of the Proteaceae family.

The couple talked to growers in Australia and New Zealand and found 20 varieties to trial.

Overseas types were brought into the country through quarantine.

Trial blocks were established and five main varieties proved they could cope with Taranaki's weather conditions.

The orchard now has 3400 trees, with two nut varieties unique to New Zealand.

Store Room containing 5kg Bulk Bags

It took six years to grow the first crop of nuts, which are collected by a mechanical harvester.

The couple opened The Nutcracker Suite factory on their property in 2001 to process the macadamia nuts and nuts from other growers.

Mr Charteris, a land valuer, and his wife, a teacher, took another overseas trip to check out processing plants in Australia, South Africa and Hawaii.

They hired a consultant to show them around plants and to provide scientific data, and then ordered 20 pieces of purpose-built machinery, allowing them to do the processing work themselves.

The equipment separates the hard husks and shells from the creamy white kernels, which are then dried and sorted. A visual check is carried out to look for damaged nuts.

The processed macadamias are stored in 5.5kg sealed packs in a chiller until they are needed to make the final products.

The tasty nuts are sold in 100gm packages and come in a natural form, roasted, salted or covered in dark or milk chocolate.

"One hundred grams is a nice quantity to eat," Mrs Charteris said.

Macadamia nut spread was sold in tubes, which was convenient to carry around, and there were plans to introduce honey-coated nuts, she said.

A batch of 300 soaps containing macadamia nuts has been made by the Egmont Soap Factory, in Opunake.

New Plymouth restaurants are using their nuts in their dishes and Auckland supermarkets are selling the packages in their delicatessens.

"They're for the gourmet end of the market," Mr Charteris said.

Studies have shown natural nuts consumed daily reduce heart disease, thin blood and improve fibre levels.

"They're little power packs," Mrs Charteris said.

"They taste really great and are also good for you."

She developed the eye-catching packaging before the factory was built and makes a range of colourful gift pouches herself.

Mrs Charteris wants to eventually incorporate work from local artists into the packaging to help promote the nuts as a Taranaki product.

Gift packs are available for functions such as weddings and corporate seminars.

Mrs Charteris said she had provided several wedding parties with packs to present to their guests.

The couple are committed to the environment and do not use insecticides. "We really love Taranaki and our business is also our home, so why would we pollute it?"

The couple have found uses for the entire macadamia nut – the husks are mulched and used as fertiliser and the shell ground up as a mulch, which is used in cosmetics.

The business' website keeps customers up-to-date with the expanding product range.

Their macadamia range can be bought through selected retailers or directly from them.

The orchard and factory are open to the public for pre-arranged group tours between January and April.

Back to top

[ introduction ][ history ][ macadamias ][ factory ][ products ][ favours ][ orders ][ tours ][ contact ]