Macadamia nuts double in price as growers struggle to keep up with demand

ABC Wide Bay By Sarah Jane Bell

Posted 11 Mar 2019, 6:10am

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-11/health-food-trends-drive-surge-in-macadamiaprice/10886728

If you are a fan of snacking on Australia's only commercially grown native nut the macadamia you may have noticed prices rising on supermarket shelves.

The Australian Macadamia Society said the price consumers were paying for the nut had doubled in the last 10 years, from $25 per kilogram to about $50 per kilogram.

Market Development Manager Lynne Ziehlke said part of the pricTASKe rise was due to growers getting paid more and because of the rarity of the product.

"In terms of tree nuts globally, macadamias [only make up] 1 to 2 per cent of global tree nut production, so there actually aren't a lot of macadamias around in the world, so that's one of the drivers," Ms Ziehlke said.

Despite the price rise, consumer demand was also growing.

The industry body predicted the number of nuts that would be sold in Australia this year would beat last year's record of nearly 4,000 tons.

Ms Ziehlke said its popularity had been driven by health food trends.

"This rise in consumer interest in plant food is so palpable and consumers are eating more whole foods ... a lot of this is driven by vegans, coeliacs, and consumers looking for dairy alternatives," she said.

"You have seen a lot of niche products on the Australian market in the last year or so. There's no doubt in my mind that there is going to be very strong growth in that space as more product becomes available."

The harvest has just begun in one of Australia's key growing areas, Bundaberg, and the national forecast is looking good.

This year's crop was expected to produce 53,500 tonnes in-shell, topping the record-setting 2018 harvest.

Your task 5:After justifying the appropriateness of its use, use the model of perfect competition to support a discussion of the short run and long run prospects for firms producing macadamia nuts, in response to the changed demand conditions.

*it must include:

- Explanation of suitability of model to this market

- Diagram/s correctly drawn [SHORT-RUN]

- Diagram/s explained and used to support explanation [SHORT-RUN]

-Diagram/s correctly drawn [LONG-RUN]

-Diagram/s explained and used to support explanation [LONG-RUN]