Aiming high for macadamia future

Market development manager Lynne Ziehlke said angling the industry towards consumer trends was vital for the future. 

“The term superfood is one consumers really respond to,” she said. 

“They’re looking for the next big thing, and that is the sort of terminology they respond to.

“It’s absolutely the space we would like macadamias to be sitting in.” 

She said creating “hype and excitement” about the product was the first step in ensuring it would continue to remain a premium product in the market.

With trends changing over time, what was regarded as a premium food ten years ago, or five years ago, will not necessarily be so in the future. 

Ms Ziehlke said trying to stay one step ahead of consumer trends and marketing towards labels such as superfoods would keep macadamias in the front of consumer minds.

“At the moment everyone is into plant foods, but we have got research that says over the next three to five years it will not just be about knowing where your food is grown, but knowing the ethics of the farmer that is growing it,” she said. 

“In the past, premium may well have meant a really flashy looking packet and a high price and the fact that my rich neighbour was eating them – those perceptions of premium and special are changing.”

Research is being undertaken by the AMA, but Ms Ziehlke said current work indicated macadamias are regarded as a superfood by consumers. The next step was speaking to food manufacturers about branding it that way, she said. 

With a 2016 study indicating that the industry was in a good place to continue to evolve to meet consumer demands, it is hoped macadamias will be take over as the next superfood trend. 

“They’re going to want us to give back to the community, and for the food to be traceable,” Ms Ziehlke said.