Macadamia

Raw material profile

It is considered the queen of nuts. In its subtropical home of Australia. The evergreen sclerophyllous macadamia trees (Macadamia ternifolia) can reach heights approaching 50 feet. Macadamia belongs to the original silver tree family (Proteaceae), the ancestors of which developed on the ancient continent of Gondwana (consisting of South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Arabia, Madagascar, New Guinea and India) in the Precambrian Age. Today, the tree is grown in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, the Hawaiian Islands and countries throughout Africa and South America.

The appearance of the trees is strongly influenced by genetic variants and growing methods. For example, long branches with clusters of up to 500 white or pink-purplish flowers grow on the trees for months. The trees bloom from top to bottom. In Australia, these blossoms are pollinated not only by insects, but also by birds and marsupials. As a rule, after approximately six months only three to five percent of the blossoms mature into macadamia nuts.

Incidentally, the macadamia nut isn’t actually a nut. They are what are known as stone fruit, as are walnuts. In stone fruits like the macadamia nut, the “nut” is surrounded by an unwooded fruit flesh. In actual nuts, the fruit flesh is completely wooded to form the shell. The extremely hard shell of the macadamia nut is enclosed by a green fruit flesh.

Macadamia nuts are sought-after as a delicious, healthy snack. Macadamia nut oil contains simple unsaturated fatty acids which support healthy blood cholesterol levels when consumed. The oil is a rich source of palmitoleic acid, a fatty acid which is normally found in animal fats and which has a strong antioxidative effect. B vitamins and vitamin E add to the value of macadamia nut oil as a nutritional supplement and as an ingredient in skin care

Origin, cultivation and processing

The fair-trade macadamia nuts used in Dr. Hauschka Skin Care products come from the “macadamiafans” certified organic small farmer project in Kenya. The growing conditions for the macadamia tree are perfect at the high altitudes around Mount Kenya National Park. Despite the optimum conditions, it takes 15 years before the trees can be fully harvested, however they then last for decades. The nuts primarily ripen in the months from March to June. Immediately after the harvest, the farmers remove the green outer shell. The nuts are then transported to decentralized manufacturing facilities that largely employ the farmers’ family members. After a gentle drying process, the factory employees use specially developed manual nutcrackers to delicately remove the valuable cores from the protective shell, carefully sort them and then package them in a vacuum to prevent oxidation. It is a complicated process involving a lot of manual work, several stages of drying and short storage times, but it is worth it as a high percentage of the macadamia nuts remain undamaged.

With all this work, it is no wonder that macadamia nuts are the most expensive nuts in the world. Where it was previously often just the middle men making a profit, the macadamiafans project founded in 2009 gives the farmers and their families direct access to the export market. The project has its own traceability system where all steps are recorded digitally, from training and certification of the farmers, through purchasing, payment and processing to the finished product. Extensive training and a conversion to certified organic farming have given the farmers the opportunity to significantly increase their income. They are paid using state-of-the-art technology based on fingerprints and mobile phones. All of the profits from macadamiafans currently go into expanding the activities in Kenya so that more farmers can be offered a fair return on their products.

WALA buys the shelled nuts from macadamiafans and gets them pressed into oil in Germany. This requires real finesse from the people working at the oil mill. Macadamia nuts need the right amount of gentle warmth to separate the oil and oil cakes from one another. The valuable oil cakes go to organic bakeries in the area.

Why is macadamia nut oil used as an ingredient in Dr. Hauschka products?

We are familiar with macadamia nuts being buttery and soft. The tree protects this softness with an extremely hard shell, which itself is enclosed by a very hard layer. Providing protection and a shell to keep the core delicate is one of the guiding principles of the macadamia tree. The nut’s oil offers its valuable gift to the skin. In fact, the oil seems to meld with the skin, giving even sensitive skin a silky, protected feeling. This allows the skin to retain its natural moisture and beauty. With its antioxidative effect, macadamia nut oil also helps to diminish the appearance of fine line and wrinkles, making it particularly effective on mature or prematurely aging skin. In hair care, the oil smoothes the scalp and gives hair a natural shine.