• Snacks (Roasted, lightly salted, sugar frosted)
• Used as a spread (Peanut butter substitute)
• Cooking ingredient (flavoring, garnishing)
• Baking ingredient (cakes, pastries, bread)
• Oils (Cooking and skin care)

They presently command a premium costs as the demand far exceeds current production levels. They are usually marketed to consumers pre-packed, whole, with an assortment of flavors. Major food and confectionary manufacturers such as Nestle and Kraft also retails macadamia-flavored products on premium pricing levels.

Composition wise, Macadamia nuts contains an extremely high percentage of natural oils (almost three quarters of a kernel), a significant level of protein (10%), fibers and carbohydrates (7% respectively) and trace amounts of various minerals and vitamins.

A relatively recent discovery in the world of horticulture, macadamia nuts were first found in Queensland, northeastern Australia, in 1858, consumed and cultivated by aborigines in the area. Not long after, circa 1881, it was introduced to Hawaii. The term Macadamia was coined after a notable horticulturist of the period, Dr. John McAdam. Although it is now widely available in many tropical countries, Australia and Hawaii remains the biggest producers of these nuts in the world.

There are nine variants of the macadamia nuts, but only two of these are commercially grown, owing to their distinct flavor and general ease of cultivation. They are the hard-shelled Macadamia Tetraphylla and the soft-shelled Macadamia Integrifolia. With almost identical botanical properties, the fruit is composed of a white pip, extraordinarily uniformed symmetrically, and enclosed in a round, hard exterior about one inch in diameter, encircled by a smooth, bright green husk. The hard, greenish elongated leaves are typically between four to ten inches in length, growing in a cluster of three leaves, with little white flowers with seeds that will eventually set to fruit. Macadamia Tetraphylla is known as the hard-shelled species thanks to the gratings of the shell's surface. The husk is a little spindle-shaped, grayish green, and covered with a dense, white pre growth. The pips have a grayish base, are darker in color and more unpredictable in quality than those of M. Integrifolia.
As an orchard crop, the macadamia wants rich, well-drained soil and a reasonably heavy annual rainfall (130cm). Macadamia trees typically grow to 20 meters in height and 15 meters wide.

The year round fertile trees have shiny, leathery leaves that are well over 30cm in length. Pleasant smelling flower clusters are fertilized to small bunches of one to 20 fruits. The shiny nuts have a thick, leathery husk that splits along one side in the maturing process. Because it is hard to tell exactly when the nut has matured, the macadamias are not cropped until they fall to the ground.

The mature nuts are then collected manually and machine-hulled, and stored for second stage processing by manufacturers. Because macadamias are tricky to propagate, has a long yield period, and limited in range of cultivability, production has not kept pace with increased demand, so rendering the product costly.