NEW BUSINESS VENTURE GOES ‘NUTS’

By SAMANTHA ELLEY

Thanks to a craving for salted peanuts, New-Zealand born, Thomas Hoult discovered and established the macadamia industry on the Northern Rivers.

At a recent talk with the Lismore Garden Club at East Lismore Bowling Club, the octogenarian shared the history of his experiences and how he was introduced to the ‘bush nut’ known worldwide as the macadamia.

“In 1976 I came to Brisbane and looked after a clinic,” he said to many of Lismore’s keen gardeners.

“I loved salted peanuts and bought them each day from a young girl who was selling them.

“One day she offered me these strange round nuts that she called bottle nuts or bush nuts.”

Thomas was fascinated by the small round nuts and investigated them further.

“I soon developed a new idea for a business,” he said.

“I convinced my business partner Mel (Braham) that (the macadamia) industry was the one we should get in to.

“I flew up to Lismore and bought a farm at Tuntable Creek and another farm at Dunoon.”

After planting 10,000 trees at Tuntable Creek, Thomas soon came to realise the area was too steep to use mechanised harvesters. These were needed as harvesting by hand was unaffordable.

“We hand dug out all the trees and took them to Dunoon,” said Thomas. From there the business partners established Macadamia Plantations of Australia.

“I promoted the bum out of the industry,” said Thomas.

“I had 50-60 farms being managed.

“I told investors, ‘you buy the farm and our team will do the rest’.”

From there Thomas started up the Australian Macadamia Society which is still going strong, supporting the world’s second largest macadamia market.

And how does Thomas like to eat his macadamias?

“Roasted and salted is the best way,” he said.