Hawaii’s claim to famous nuts threatened by cheaper, undisclosed Australian imports

The company’s chief administrative officer told a Senate committee hearing that the amount of foreign macadamia nuts the company buys varies depending on the Hawaii crop.

“We try to purchase as much local macadamias as the growers will sell to us,” Michelle Leon-Guerrero said.

Hawaiian Host CEO Ed Schultz said his company buys one-third of the macadamia nuts grown in Hawaii. It’s been doing so at a 35 per cent premium to Australian prices in 2023. He said Hawaii’s nuts need to be competitive with those from Down Under.

It’s the latest tussle over labels for agricultural products from a specific geographic area, a topic familiar to Hawaii due to long-running disputes over Kona coffee. It echoes similar challenges faced by maple syrup producers in Vermont, US, and winemakers in Champagne which have had to fend off sparkling wine producers from other places trying to appropriate the French region’s name.

The stakes are high for Hawaii’s 600-plus macadamia nut farmers, many of whom have small operations. Combined, they produced $US62.7 million ($95 million) in nuts in 2021, just ahead of coffee in value and second only to seed farms that research genetically engineered corn.

Growers say they can’t find buyers for their kernel and unharvested nuts are falling from their trees. Some farmers are giving up and trying to sell their equipment.

In response, state representatives are due to vote on legislation on Thursday (AEST) that would require food companies to disclose on the packaging when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. The measure would take effect on January 1, 2026, if it becomes law. The governor has not indicated whether he will sign it.

Schultz said what the industry needed was more processing capacity. For this, Hawaiian Host wants the industry to form a co-op to run a new processing facility on the Big Island. Many growers are reluctant to join such a project without a labelling requirement that will differentiate their nuts from others around the world.

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Nathan Trump, the president of the Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association, said Hawaii macadamia nuts have strong brand recognition. But he said the status quo turned the nuts into a commodity.

“When you look at things like Vermont maple syrup, New Zealand beef – different country of origin matters because quality matters to consumers,” he said. “If they understand the country of origin, I think they’ll be able to make the decision if they want to pay a higher price.”

Vermont law says no maple product may be labelled as being from Vermont, or labelled in a way that implies it was, unless it was 100 per cent produced in Vermont in compliance with state standards.

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In Europe, Champagne makers came together in the 19th century to prevent sparkling winemakers operating elsewhere from using the French region’s name for their beverage. Today, European Union rules allow products to obtain a geographical designation if they have a specific link to where the product is made.

State Representative Kristin Kahaloa’s Big Island district sits on the western slopes of Mauna Loa, the volcano that gave its name to the popular nut brand. She said smaller farmers and producers wanted both labelling requirements and more processing capacity, and she agreed.

“Mauna Loa is the name of our mountain,” Kahaloa said. “It’s about keeping a special agricultural product that is part of the fabric of our community on our island.”

AP