South Coast macadamia nut growers win awards
This year's largest ever global macadamia nut crop was supported by record prices.
LOCAL farmers walked away with a number of awards when the Green Farms Nut Company hosted an end-of -year function for its KwaZulu-Natal region at The Packshed Restaurant in Margate recently.
With more than 80 guests attending, it was the biggest gathering the company had ever hosted in this region.
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“We are delighted so many local growers joined us and we thank them for their ongoing support. There is currently no other company in South Africa as heavily invested in the macadamia industry.
Our new mega factory in Mpumalanga is the largest single processing facility in the world and will be open for the 2018 season.
Our KwaZulu-Natal facility, Coastal Macadamia, will double its processing capacity next year. The value we place on our farmers’ support is imperative,” said Green Farm Nut company chief executive, Jill Whyte.
Every year the company runs competitions in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, the three regions where they have factories.
In KwaZulu-Natal growers who had delivered over 10 tonnes were eligible for prizes in the ‘lowest unsound kernel recovery’ and ‘highest sound kernel recovery’ categories.
This year general manager Ann Baker, handed out the prizes. In the ‘highest sound kernel recovery’ category, Outlook Farm was the winner, with UVS (Braeburn) and GG Elliott Farms placed second and third.
Bushy Vales Farm earned first place in the ‘lowest unsound kernel recovery’ category, with GG Elliott Farms and Marichel Inv CC coming second and third.
Three up-and-coming small-volume growers were also recognised for their outstanding results. They were· Bendigo Nut Farm Estate which had a 41.92 percent sound kernel recovery, Kurt Worthmann, with a 40.11 percent sound kernel recovery and Deryck Bircher, with 0.74 percent unsound kernel recovery
“This year has seen the largest ever global crop, which has been supported by the highest prices on record for macadamia nuts,” said Ms Whyte. She added that this demonstrated the strength of demand and potential for growth in the macadamia nut industry.
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