There’s a new nut in the marketplace

Sandalwood is best known as a fragrant wood but long before it was a major export from Western Australia, local Indigenous communities used the sandalwood nuts as a food source. The nuts are low in saturated fats, high in mono and polyunsaturated fats. Somewhat similar to Brazil nuts and with a glutinous texture, the nuts are now commercially available.

Connie and Marty Winch-Buist have established a Santalum Spicatum ‘orchard’ on their property east of York at Greenhills in Western Australia while Michelle Fry from Santaleuca has a plantation on her property at Narembeen in the Eastern Wheatbelt in Western Australia.

After many trials and cooking processes, the Winch-Buists established their WA Sandalwood Nut food business. They now grow, harvest, process, package and sell a range of sandalwood nut food products. Among the products so far developed are the roasted nuts, a dukkah and a chocolate-covered nut.

The Frys are selling roasted sandalwood nuts via health food shops.