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Annette Fontana has accepted Suncoast Gold Macadamias invitation to join the Board and will hold the position of Interim Director until the 2020 AGM.  Annette is a representative of Saratoga Holding Pty Ltd (Saratoga), and her appointment follows the recent share purchase by Saratoga in SGM.  Saratoga have been a driving force in Australia’s Macadamia industry through their Hinkler Park Plantations and are now considered the largest Macadamia growers in the world.

Annette brings a wealth of experience to the Board having been a practicing lawyer for 28 years and continues as a partner in a Sydney CBD law firm leading their property and commercial teams. Annette has held positions on the Board of MPC, Saratoga, MMI and Pacific Gold providing vast knowledge in the Macadamia industry.

Thankyou to all our macadamia growers who chose Suncoast Gold Macadamias to process their crop in 2018

CRACKING of the 2018 crop was finally completed in February, and it was a great season, up in volume on the previous season.

THANKYOU also to all of you in the Australian Macadamia Industry who will soon consider our highly competitive NIS offer for your 2019 crop.

REST ASSURED we’ll once again be paying top prices for your 2019 crop. Of course, we will also be paying Quality, Volume and Shareholder bonuses, as well as offering flexible payment options.

NATURALLY we appreciate that deciding who to supply can be a difficult decision so please contact our grower support team is you would like to know more.

Or visit the Grower Support Page

Grower Support Page

We would like to congratulate suppliers who have been nominated for a prestigious Macadamia industry award for the 2017 season.  The awards recognise excellence in quality and yield and have been an ongoing annual event in the battle between Queensland and New South Wales to see which state produces the best macadamias.   This year there has been a welcome move to using data collected by the industry benchmarking program.

Congratulations to all nominees and particularly to the SGM suppliers who took out 9 nominations, we are very proud and grateful of the high quality you produce and the attention to detail you commit to your crop.

See the full story on the AMS website here 

Suncoast Gold Macadamias CEO Lisa Worthington was interviewed for ABC radios QLD Country Hour program at the recent MacGroups hosted by the Australian Macadamia Society. Listen to Lisa’s interview here.
Interview starts at 42:25 minutes into the program (click and drag the time bar at top of page).

About an hour south of Mackay is Graham Matsen, a cane farmer situated at Koumala.

A few years ago Mr Matsen travelled to Lismore in New South Wales to speak with growers and processors, after which he converted of some of his cane land to a macadamia orchard in 2006.

He said his trees offered extra security for his farming enterprise when times were tough in the sugar industry.

“The security of the price is something we have been very lucky with. We have been lucky enough to see $5 a kilo,” he said.

“The stability of our market is a bit better, there a quite a few factories and all the factories approach you every year with their prices.

“It is really your decision then as to which factory [you choose], there is no pressure.”

He has since found the trees have adjusted well to the humid and sometimes cyclonic conditions of the north.

To try and combat storm damage, Mr Matsen tried to develop stronger, thicker trunks to cope with the increased risk of cyclones.

“We didn’t really let the trees get too high until the trunks were as thick as your wrists or better … to try and get the roots developed so they could handle a cyclone,” Mr Matsen said.

During Cyclone Debbie of March 2017, while he did lose some trees and nut, Mr Matsen said his orchard coped well overall and expects a bumper crop this year.

Exerpt from ABC story http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-01-16/macadamias-in-mackay-sugar-heartland/9310878 

There has been renewed interest in promoting beneficial insects in the orchard after an excellent turnout at a workshop run by Bioresources recently.   Speakers included Richard Llewellyn who spoke about tiny parasitising wasps known as MacTrix which help control Macadamia nut borer when released into the orchard.  While researcher Abigail Makim convinced growers to give the orchard a mowhawk rather than constantly keeping grass low to provide a refuge for beneficial insects.   These beneficial insects can help to control pest insects in an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program.

See the full story on our facebook page 

 

 

 

Staff recognised for long-standing commitment to Suncoast Gold

One of our long-standing staff members, Brenda Golby, appeared in an article by the Gympie Times earlier this month after being recognised for 28 years of service to the company.

The shareholders and suppliers meeting was held on site at the factory in October 2017 and management took the opportunity to recognise several of SGM’s long serving and loyal employees with certificates and gifts going to all staff that had served more than 10 years.

The event attended by company shareholders, suppliers, board members, management and staff also showcased a fresh new look for the business with a new company logo and website.

Read the full article here

 

Published in AMS News Bulletin Spring 2017 Edition

There has been a renewed focus on sprayer coverage and calibration this season with growers wanting to ensure the best possible start for the 2018 crop.

In the Gympie region, the appearance of early flower buds in some varieties coincided with Suncoast Gold’s pre-flower workshop in the first week of July. At the workshop, attended by more than 30 growers featured a detailed presentation on sprayer calibration by Tony Pashley from TP Industries of Bundaberg. Tony has extended his sprayer calibration service to the Gympie region and has the added insight of being a grower himself.

According to workshop organiser Megan Boote from Suncoast Gold Macadamias, a lot of growers had been asking about calibration services.

“To their credit, many growers have been very proactive in upgrading their spray units and getting their advisers and sprayer reps on farm to ensure everything is in order before the season starts,” she said.

The workshop was the first of a series of pre-flower workshops organised by Megan and was followed by workshops in the Bundaberg and Glasshouse Mountains regions.

At all three events Chris Fuller from Kin Kin Native Bees presented on the importance of pollination as well as drawing on his knowledge and experience as a pest scout in the region preparing the growers for the coming pest season.

View the full article on ABC Rural here

The impact of extreme weather looks like it will buck a growing trend this year, causing macadamia prices to rise as a recent forecast for Australia’s crop was revised down 13 per cent.

“We take our product from New South Wales right through to far north Queensland, so the actual individual regions have all reacted a little bit differently,” Suncoast Gold Macadamias CEO Lisa Worthington said.

“It’s not too significant when you look at some agricultural crops and how they can vary. However, it is down a little on what we were hoping for.

“The main challenge is to manage your cost and also to ensure that the customers are not let down on their orders which we tend to make much earlier in the year.”

Around 30 per cent of Suncoast Gold Macadamia’s product is consumed domestically, with Japan and the US large customers.
The company is focused on opening markets in developing Asian areas and into Europe.

“One of the areas that we don’t focus a lot on is our nut in-shell export direct to China. We are therefore able to send less under these circumstances and make sure that our processing clients, the ones that take the kernel from us, are not short on their orders,” Ms Worthington said.

With South Africa suffering from severe drought, Australia is currently producing more macadamias than anywhere else in the world.

Local Gympie supplier, Ken Ward achieving record prices despite challenges of heat, drought and hail.

View the article here

ABC Landline recently ran a story featuring the positives being experienced in the Macadamia industry at present. The story featured Beerwah suppliers Brett Newell and Peter Boyle as well as our CEO Lisa Worthington and several more familiar faces from the industry.
There is also footage of the devastation from Cyclone Debbie and flooding in the Northern Rivers region in NSW which effected so many growers.

View the episode here