Beerenberg Farm
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| File:Beerenberg.png | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Grant Paech - Chairman Anthony Paech - Managing Director |
Number of employees | 50 |
| Website | http://www.beerenberg.com.au/ |
Beerenberg Farm is an Australian producer of preserves, jams, mustards and sauces, located in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. The company premises are a tourist attraction on the state's food-and-wine trail,[1] and has gained an international reputation due to the use of its portion-sized products in Australian and international airlines and hotels.[2]
In March 2009 Beerenberg re-launched its website with a new feature – the ‘Provenance Pathway’ – which enables its customers to trace the passage of their purchased product from ‘soil to shelf’. Customers can enter the barcode from their Beerenberg jar to find out further information about the product including a map of where the main ingredients were grown, the date the product was made and even the name of the cook.
History
The original farm was founded in 1839 by German migrant Johann Paech, as a dairy farm. When the farm was inherited by descendent Grant Paech and his wife Carol in 1969, they sold the dairy cows and named the farm "Beerenberg" in reference to the Paech family's German heritage.[citation needed]
Originally selling home-made jams from a roadside stall, the company introduced a single portion jar that which resulted in them being awarded several major airline contracts.[3]
Anthony Paech, the current managing director, represents the sixth generation of the family still on the same farm while brother Robert Paech is Farm Manager and sister Sally Paech is Marketing Manager.
Beerenberg's has received a South Australian Premier's Food Award for its contribution to horticulture and the food industry.[4]
International exports and major contracts
Beerenberg pioneered the concept of portion serves (miniature jars) for its premium quality jams and preserves, in order to fulfil a contract with Qantas, Australia's flagship airline, to cater for their first and business class meals.[3]
In 1993, small foil packs were launched to meet growing demand from the hotel and tourism markets and this has led to Beerenberg controlling more than 70 per cent of this sector in Australia.
In 2002, the company exported a first instalment of 40,000 jars of jam to China[3] which were used as part of the Hong Kong-based Dragonair airline's food service.
The company is one of the best-known brands in the Asia-Pacific region's hotel industry.[5]
Currently portion size jars and foil packs form half of Beerenberg's business, with 25 million foil pack portion sizes and 11 million portion size jars made each year. Forty per cent of these stay in Australia.
Products
Beerenberg's primary product, accounting for about a third of their total business, is the company's strawberry jam.
In 2007 Beerenberg launched a new barbecue sauce in collaboration with another iconic South Australian family-owned business, Coopers Brewery. Six months after its launch Beerenberg Coopers Ale Barbeque Sauce has become the second best selling product in the Beerenberg sauce range.
The company also produces a range of over 50 other products including mustards,[6] marmalades, chutneys, sauces and marinades, pickles, dressings, dessert toppings and olive oil made using traditional recipes with no added artificial flavour, colour or preservatives.
Tourist attraction
The Beerenberg Farm is an Adelaide Hills tourist attraction amongst the breweries and wineries in the German-influenced Hahndorf region. Visitors can pick their own strawberries (during the strawberry season from October to May), as well as visiting the on-site jam kitchen and farm shop.[7]
See also
References
- ^ Hahndorf - South Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 February 2004.
- ^ Harcourt, Tim: When the Great Wall comes down: China's economic resurgence means opportunities for Australian exporters, Austrade, 26 March 2002.
- ^ a b c Adams, Prue: Strawberry Farm, Landline (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 6 December 1998
- ^ Past Winners of the Premier's Food Awards, Government of South Australia.
- ^ Open Learning - Managing People, Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
- ^ Dunlop, Rob: The wurst of times, The Australian, 23 September 2006
- ^ Adelaide Hills Attractions, South Australian Tourism Commission (Singapore).
Famed Hahndorf farming family set up trust to preserve town's heritage