The South African macadamia industry gathered at Zimbali for MacDay’25, with the theme “Cracking the code – The power of data in Macadamias”. The event brought together growers, researchers, processors, and industry partners to look at how data and innovation can help the industry move forward. The programme was hosted by Liezel van der Westhuizen, well-known radio and TV presenter, coach, and founder of The Giraffe Brand, with a witty AI co-MC, Macy. The keynote speaker, Rusty Labuschagne, shared his remarkable story of survival and resilience after being wrongfully imprisoned. His talk on hope, strength, and leadership inspired the audience and set the tone for the event.

FABI was well represented by the Macadamia Protection Programme (MaPP), and the Eucalyptus Pine-Pathogen Interactions and Forest Molecular Genetics (EPPI-FMG) teams who also shared an exhibition booth to promote the services they offer to industry members. The MaPP team showcased the disease diagnostic clinic services and exhibited a range of the pests and diseases negatively impacting macadamias. The EPPI-FMG team highlighted their work on macadamia genomics and DNA fingerprinting services performed at the Precision Tree Breeding Platform at UP. Prof. Gerda Fourie gave an important talk on stink bug management practises, currently one of the biggest challenges facing growers. The work on Macadamia Genomics was presented by Prof. Zander Myburg (Stellenbosch University). The event gave attendees the chance to learn, share ideas, and connect. Many presentations showed how we can make better use of data and technology to solve some of the most important issues facing the South African macadamia industry, so as to maintain its standing as the largest producer of macadamia nuts globally.