Macadamias usage and attitude research study (MC24001)

Completed project

Publication date: November 29, 2024

Delivery Partner: Focus Insights

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What was it all about?

This project provided the Australian macadamia industry with actionable insights into consumer awareness, usage, and purchase patterns of macadamias, enabling the development and evaluation of effective marketing strategies.

The project also informed food manufacturers about the consumer appeal of macadamias and their alignment to current and emerging trends in food, health, and sustainability.

Challenge

With global macadamia production on the rise, understanding consumer behaviour in key markets is critical for driving demand and maintaining a preference for Australian-origin products in a highly competitive export landscape.

Currently, less than 35 per cent of Australian macadamia kernel production is used as an ingredient. To address this, the Australian macadamia marketing committee has identified stimulating the development of new macadamia-containing products as a key strategy, supported by updated consumer insights and premium product claims.

Response

Phase one:

The initial phase combined desktop research with AI-driven social listening across key markets, including Australia, USA, Japan, China, South Korea, and India. This analysis explored consumer discussions on macadamias and related trends, such as health benefits, sustainability, and provenance. Social listening included diverse stakeholders, including consumers, nutritionists, dieticians and health professionals, and chefs, bakers and ingredient specialists. Additionally, the project reviewed previous research and knowledge transfer activities.

Phase two:

Quantitative online research was conducted in the same markets to gather insights on:

Awareness and purchase metrics.
Importance of provenance/origin.
Associations vs other tree nuts.
Consumption occasions.
Barriers to purchase.
Perceptions regarding healthy fats.

This phase also updated category specific research such as tendency to pay more if a product contained macadamias, favourite nut in confectionary/baking/ ice cream products, associations for products including macadamias by category, and identification of motivations for purchasing products with macadamias.

The research also incorporated understanding of other macadamia uses such as in oils, spreads, and cosmetics, as well as consumer segmentation around need states.

The study also included 6,056 online interviews with consumers aged 18-74 who had consumed nuts in the past 6 months, were the primary shopper, and aware of and non-rejectors of macadamia nuts. Each market had over 1,000 respondents, providing robust data for analysis.

The research delivered updated consumer behaviour data and insights, helping the industry understand how macadamias are perceived, barriers to consumption, and opportunities for macadamias as an ingredient.

Benefit

The project confirmed key hypotheses, such as:

“The biggest barrier to greater consumption/frequency outside cost is physical and mental availability”
“Snacking remains the most important occasion for nuts and macadamias, however further meal opportunities and other occasions are also of importance”
“Health is important in relation to snacking”

Data gathered on consumer knowledge and attitudes can be utilised to identify and prioritise domestic and export markets where there is growth potential for competitive supply of Australian macadamias, supporting the industry is maintaining and driving demand.

By gaining a deeper understanding of consumers across multiple markets, the project also supports the Australian macadamia marketing strategy, fostering a strategic and targeted approach to driving category growth and strengthening the global reputation of Australian-grown macadamias.