Carob, the future?

I love carob.
I like it even more than chocolate.
I think you can get Australian grown?

Macarob, a south Australian carob farm, they appear to have been growing carob trees since early 80s but have sold out of all their carob? I think there's something going on here. More investigation needed.

Article on carob bean by the owner of Macarob
The process of breaking up the pod and separating the seed and kibble requires a regional processing facility. The pods are passed through a slow revving hammer mill with the output going to shaker/blower screens to separate out the seed and the kibble. Production must currently be exported as there is no local processing facility. It is estimated that a throughput of at least several hundred tonnes would be required for a viable processing operation for gum production.
Carob powder is made by gentle roasting and grinding. Carob syrup is made by dissolving the sugars and flavour and then concentrating the mixture to a syrup.
Australia currently imports about 1000 tonnes of carob gum per year at about A$5.00 / kg. However, the price fluctuates widely and in 1995 the price rose to A$32.00 /kg. Australia also imports about 60 tonnes of carob powder with a wholesale value of about $2.00 /kg. The cost of establishing a carob orchard is estimated at about $7500 per hectare with no return for at least 10 years. However, once the trees reach full bearing, returns should be about $10 000 per hectare.



fruit is a brown, leathery pod about 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in) long and contains a syrupy to biscuity flesh of an agreeable sweet taste, in which lie a number of seeds. The pods are edible and are often used for livestock feed

"The carob fruit, typically produced on female and hermaphrodite trees older than 6 years, is valued for a range of products derived from the seed and the pod. From the seeds, the endosperm is extracted for a galactomannan, which forms an edible gum (termed 'carob bean gum' or 'locust bean gum', LBG) and has become a valuable natural food additive. Carob powder, made by grinding the roasted pod, is used for the human food industry (with cocoa products and syrups). Ripe pods also have potential as a high energy stock feed. The gum is used extensively in Australia as an thickening or binding agent, particularly for canned pet food products. A study undertaken by Race, Curtis and Booth (RIRDC 1998) reveals that current imports valued at AU$10million/year. The current Australian demand for 'pet food' and 'technical' grade gum is estimated at 1200 tonnes/year, with a further 200 tonnes/year of the higher quality 'food' grade gum. Assuming a modern plant was built in Australia, the current Australian demand for carob gum could be met with approximately 2250 tonnes of carob seed (seed value at $ l600/tonne). This equates to 5405 ha of trees (at 104 trees/ha) with medium rainfall and low technology management (yielding 40 kg tree); or 1080 ha of trees (at 208 trees/ha) with supplementary irrigation and fertilising (yielding 100 kg/tree). As such, carob could be a commercial tree crop for landholders in the Murray Valley region.
From this article

The carob industry tries to go mainstream Article of ABC's Landline. The plot thickens...

Varieties of carob