A family-run Tasmanian hazelnut farm that was reluctantly put up for sale last year has not only survived but thrived thanks to finding a market online.
Just 12 months ago, one of Tasmania's largest hazelnut farms was up for sale due to challenges in securing a loan and a downturn in tourism.If you'd asked Tasmanian hazelnut grower Christie McLeod a year ago how she rated her online marketing skills it would have been tough to answer.
"It's really driving our business so much that we're actually going to be, for the first time in 11 years … out of stock of raw nuts for about a month while we wait for these ones to ripen,"Despite Hazelbrae's trees being loaded with nuts, challenges in securing a loan forced Ms McLeod and her partner Mick Delphin to put their picturesque Hagley property in northern Tasmania up for sale. "Because the interest rates had doubled in 12 months we didn't have the financials through COVID … that could show we would pay it," Ms McLeod said."One bank said to us if we had that much in grain we'd be fine to get a loan, but because it was hazelnuts, no-one was confident in what we could do with it,"Luckily, the family-run business was able to secure a loan and take the property off the market.And there are plans to expand the farm, from 5,000 trees to 6,000 over the next two years. "The first planting was 2005 so they've been there for a while, and we're just now learning how to harvest them," Ms McLeod joked.The couple purchased the property in 2014 and admit the past 11 years have been full of challenges. It included dealing with the devastating 2016 Tasmanian floods, an unexpected baby and more recently the pandemic. "COVID left us quite bare in the bank, because we were mostly in tourism at the time," Ms McLeod said. "So we really did struggle trying to balance what we were doing as farmers, and what we were doing as retail, restaurant, cafe and marketing.Tasmanian cherries are being sold online in hyped buying markets not unlike TV infomercials. It prompted a rethink, with Hazelbrae choosing to transition out of hospitality to prioritise its farming operations. "It's really focused us on the farm and the product, and now we're seeing the results that will see us really comfortable in the future," Ms McLeod said. She said hiring a coach to learn how to increase the farm's online presence and build up sales also proved vital. "Now we're selling three-quarters of our product to customers all over Australia that we've either met, or they've seen our ads, or they visit us at Salamanca market,""So, we sort of draw in some new people, but they mostly come from social media marketing.Ferrero Group's Australian hazelnut venture over The Italian company behind Ferrero Rocher and Nutella is giving up on its farm in southern NSW saying the long-term climate is not conducive to hazelnut farming. For the Australian arm of the company, it meant giving up on a $70 million hazelnut farm in southern New South Wales and announcing it would remove the million trees it had planted at the farm since 2013.Ms McLeod said it had been a disappointing turn for hazelnut growers, with Ferrero's investment expected to result in growth for the sector. This year's strong harvest has prompted the business to finally purchase a new harvester, which can handle higher volumes of hazelnuts.But the head of peak body Hazelnut Growers of Australia, Trevor Ranford, said he wasn't concerned and he continued to have high hopes for hazelnut farming in the country."I saw it with pistachios, where the first two decades, the first 1,000 hectares was planted. In the past 12 years, an extra 2,000 hectares were planted, so the volumes are going up.Photo shows A woman holds a toddler next to a man and a dog in between a row of trees Ditching corporate lives in busy cities, these tree changers are moving to rural Tasmania in search of a different life.In 2024, the sector produced about 544 tonnes of in-shell hazelnuts with a farm-gate value of $5.5 million, according to the peak body. There are roughly 1.2 million trees planted around Australia, primarily in the temperate areas of the south-east, including northern Tasmania. Mr Ranford said the long turnaround between planting trees and seeing a solid crop, which can take between five and seven years, held some farmers back from taking the leap to hazelnuts."I predict over the next five to 10 years, that move from being a smallish industry to one that's starting to talk about 5,000 tonne plus.""This year, we've actually hand-measured trees yielding up to 17 kilograms, and that's a really good indicator that it's possible to do this in Australia.Photo shows Greens senator Larissa Waters at a pre-poll voting station Photo shows Donald Trump pumping one closed fist in the air at the top of the stairs to Air Force One.Photo shows The finished products for hazelnuts grown in southern New Soouth Wales is Nutella.
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