THEY have already dominated the Australian market and now the Steinhardt family is planning for future expansion both in their growing and products.
Trevor Steinhardt, Kevin and Lisa Steinhardt and Janelle and Andrew Gerry run Macadamias Australia and Farmfresh Fine Foods from their Bundaberg base.
The family are planning on expanding their Macadamia production by planting an additional 60,000 trees by the end of the year which will see them maintaining almost 200,000 trees.
The family grow and export their own kernels to more than 15 different countries and have established their own online store with their retail packs selling into China.
Plans are also underway to develop their retail line further abroad.
Company Director and Finance/Administration Manager Janelle Gerry said they had received a lot of enquiries for their retail packs from different countries.
“People are looking for a product that is grown and packed in Australia,” she said.
“They recognise that Australian Macadamias are of high quality and being native to Australia.”
The decision to shift their business to growing Macadamias in 2003 wasn’t one taken lightly but the family could see an opportunity within the industry.
“You are really going into a crop that you are not going to get any income from for five to six years,” Ms Gerry said.
“So we needed good financial planning to transition at such a scale.”
The Steinhardt family’s strategy is based on long term and innovation with priority placed on growing, harvest and post hand innovation. Biological control is used on the property and they have designed and built a lot of their own innovative equipment.
Ms Gerry said the global market for Macadamias was huge.
“There is still a number of countries yet to be opened up and of course the free trade agreements have helped trade as well,” she said.
“The industry has really grown and it’s very exciting for anyone involved.” The Steinhardt’s operation will be on display at the Food Heroes event on March 9.
Transforming the land
IT started out as an unimproved parcel of land but now the Steinhardt’s farm near Bundaberg has become one of Australia’s leading macadamia growers.
Ron and Marion Steinhardt purchased the family property in 1957 where it was cleared to grow peanuts, corn, cotton, tobacco, sugar cane and vegetables.
From 1980 the Steinhardt Family Farms brand commenced with tomatoes and zucchinis grown at a large scale to supply to Australian and New Zealand supermarket chains.
It wasn’t until 2003 that the Macadamias Australia was established and they spent the next three years planting 128,000 trees.
It was seven years before the trees produced their first good commercial crop.
Today they maintain more than 130,000 trees and produce 1800 tonnes of macadamias annually.
The family also established a factory, Farmfresh Fine Foods, in 1998 which supplies customised vegetable products to Australian manufacturers and companies.