News

On International Women’s Day, we acknowledge and celebrate the enormous contribution women make to the Australian macadamia industry, and highlight the diverse roles they play.

In a nutshell

Grower: Janelle Gerry

Farm: Macadamias Australia, Bundaberg, Queensland

Size: The home farm is over one hundred acres.

Cultivars: 816 and 741

Soils: Sandy loam

Janelle Gerry’s family has been farming in Bundaberg for generations. Her family planted their first macadamia orchards in the region in 2003. However, she initially worked in a law firm before coming back to the family farm. She is now Managing Director at Macadamias Australia, overseeing the operations and strategic direction of the vertically integrated macadamia business.

In 2023, she oversaw the divestment of multiple production orchards and a state-of-the-art cracking plant in a consumer-facing pivot that sees her heavily involved in developing new macadamia products. Macadamias Australia is now focussed on being a paddock-to-plate food and agritourism operation. “We have our own macadamia orchard and we also have our own value-adding operations. So once the macadamia is cracked and we've got the kernel, we then turn it into a range of beautiful retail products. We've also got our tourism operation and our cafe,” says Janelle.

Industry leadership

Under Janelle’s leadership, the business is developing entirely new macadamia products for both the domestic and international markets. To that end, Janelle will spend International Women’s Day 2024 in Japan as part of a tour of several Asian countries introducing themselves and their products to the world. “At the moment, we have an opportunity to build interest in our branded Australian-grown macadamias that will enable consumers to enjoy them around the world.”

With a long history in the macadamia industry, Janelle effortlessly talks up the benefits of the nuts themselves while explaining the new range of flavour-coated nuts and chocolate-macadamia clusters they are introducing to Asia. “It's so easy to get passionate about something when you really believe it. Macadamias are such a beautiful tasting nut with all these health benefits,” she says. 

Opportunities galore

Janelle is sure that now is the right time for women thinking of entering the industry to take the plunge. “The actual industry is not really that old. As the industry matures, I think women will be seen for the leadership that they bring. There are so many ways in which women contribute,” she says, pointing particularly to research and innovation as example areas. This leads to so many opportunities. “It's just a matter of which way do you want to go.”

While her own business has an innovation pipeline, that is constantly testing ideas, Janelle sees room for more players who are keen to create products around the macadamia nut’s unique properties. She says the potential for product development - skincare products, cosmetics, cooking oils and culinary products - is limitless. “We're dealing with such a unique product which makes it very exciting,” she says.