Business Central February 2021

36 | to page 38 Torere Macadamias Macadamia pioneer branching out Richard Loader Torere Macadamias co-owner Vanessa Hayes - driving the industry’s development. Making clients successful. Proud to support Torere Macadamias Business • Property • Non-Profit • Tax Audit Chinese Market Expansion • Packages 0800 43 43 33 ∙ www.lowthersaccountants.com 0800 000 501 www.alphapipelines.co.nz info@alphapipelines.co.nz • DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS • IRRIG ATION SYSTEMS • SEWERAGE SYSTEMS • WATER TANKS • EFFLUENT IRRIGATION SYSTEMS • INSTANT CONCRETE & MO R TAR • TRAFFIC SIGNS & ACCESSORIES • CIVILWORKS P R OJECTS • FASTENINGS • WORK SAFETY GEAR • WATER METERS • B ACKFLOW PREVENTION • ALL TYPES OF PIPES • VALVING Solutions to your water needs Supporting Torere Macadamias Supporting you with: P r oject Bud geting Planning Liasing Suppl y We Supply: N ew Zealand has a long history of growing macadamias and, according to a recent International Macadamia Researchers Symposium, New Zealand mac- adamias are well known as the biggest and best tasting. Pioneering modern macadamia growing in New Zealand is Vanessa Hayes, who along with her partner Rod Husband, owns Torere Macadamias Ltd. In 1983 Vanessa started researching macadamias with the vision of planting them on Māori land in Torere, in the eastern Bay of Plenty, about 20 kilometres out of Opotiki, right on the seaside. Encompassing eleven hectares - two hec- tares on the seaside with nine hectares across from the highway - Vanessa is honoured to protect and care for this land inherited from her elders. “I love macadamias and wanted to find the best varieties to grow on my land,” says Vanessa. “In the 1980s New Zealand imported three times more macadamias than it produced— it’s the same today.” The first trials of New Zealand and Australi- an macadamias at Torere commenced in 1993 and in 2001 new varieties released in Australia were imported to add to the trials. In 2002 Vanessa set up a quarantine facility, brought the scion wood out from Australia and built the nursery. “The varieties grown in New Zealand at the time needed picking from the tree and had a higher sugar content and thicker shell. “The newer varieties were high in oil with a thin shell and most importantly, they dropped to the ground. It was a great opportunity to import and trial high producing dropping vari- eties to replace New Zealand’s lower yielding picking varieties and develop a new commer- cial macadamia industry for New Zealand.” “Initially I intended to supply other Māori land owners to replicate what we have done but it’s very hard to develop Māori land commercially. I secured sole rights for the va- rieties and made them available to everyone in New Zealand.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT