Our story
Bees play an important role in the production of macadamia nuts. Australia has around 1800 to 2000 species of native bees.
Eleven of those species are small, black, stingless bees. One of these stingless bee species, Tetragonula carbonaria, has a close affinity with the macadamia, having also evolved in Australia. It has been pollinating macadamias in the forests of Australia for thousands of years.
It was pollinating wild macadamias in the bush long before Europeans and honeybees came to Australia.
Bee populations are under threat worldwide.
Australian macadamia farmers are well aware of just how important bees are to their farms and look after all bees, both native and European honeybees, that live on the orchards.
Alongside our growers, Nutworks are helping to increase the native bee population by propagating hives on their macadamia orchards.
In past times, tonnes of macadamia shells were discarded after the important kernel was extracted for consumption. Now, the shell of our native nut is a prized product that is recycled into some of the most unlikely products.
The industry has found numerous ways to repurpose and recycle macadamia shells, including the production of macadamia oil, biochar, and even renewable energy.
Nutworks use the “residual dust”, a by-product of the cracking and sorting process, to manufacture our macadamia oil.
Macadamia oil is extremely high in monounsaturated fat and has been shown to lower cholesterol levels.
These nourishing oils contain useful amounts of the antioxidant manganese that is essential for your skin to produce the collagen it needs to stay plump and wrinkle free.
