Macadamia company, Marquis Group, has reported a strong 2024 harvest season, closing out with empty warehouses. Growers benefited from a significant increase in the Notional Price, which rose from $1.80/kg in 2023 to $3.20/kg in 2024.
Marquis finished the season with an intake of 19,350 tonnes of nut in-shell (NIS) at 10 per cent moisture content, up from 18,964 tonnes in the previous season. Additionally, the company sold over 5100 tonnes of macadamia kernels and 4500 tonnes of NIS to its global and domestic customers.
Marquis Macadamias CEO, Ben Adams, said although the selling year began with some uncertainty, strong global demand, strategic market positioning and customer relationships enabled the company to sell out of NIS and kernel.
“We are in a strong position of being completely sold out, having only very limited availability of paste and oil,” said Adams.
“Encouraging demand growth is evident as we move into the new season, with many of our major customers requesting early delivery and top-up quantities to their 2024 contracts, indicating that inventory levels are low across the supply chain.
“We expect demand to continue growing strongly through the balance of the year, and we anticipate finishing the 2025/26 season with very low stock once again,” he said.
Adams also shared Marquis had recently appointed a new international sales manager and business development manager to maximise its reach. Throughout the 2024/25 season, Marquis expanded its global footprint by securing new markets and strengthening existing partnerships. A significant milestone was entering the Indian market, a key development in the company’s international expansion strategy.
Shareholder success and looking forward
In December last year, the company accelerated January, February, and March payments, ensuring growers received full payment to Notional Price payments before the year ended. Additionally, in early February, Marquis announced that shareholder suppliers would receive a shareholder NIS bonus payment of $0.20/kg, bringing their final 2024 price at 33 per cent SKR to $3.40/kg.
Over the last 12 months, Marquis has returned over $8.5 million through bonus payments and dividends to its shareholder's suppliers, following through on its commitment to provide the maximum return to them.
“We are confident that 2025 will be a year of growth driven by continuing improvement in market conditions and a strengthening USD,” said Adams.
“We are reviewing all available information and will soon be able to announce the 2025 season Notional Price. All indications point towards a reasonable improvement in the farm gate price, which is positive for our shareholders and suppliers.”
Data from food and agribusiness financial services provider, RaboBank, last year showed Australia will continue to experience a period of growth for its tree nut industry, with macadamia orchard maturation expected to provide opportunities to meet growing international demand. As major markets with limited domestic production, China and India are driving demand, with other key tree nut export destinations including Vietnam, Spain and Turkey.
