Beerenberg History

Since our ancestors settled on this land nearly 200 years ago, we’ve grown into an iconic Australian-made brand with 100 employees and nearly 100 delicious products.

While we might have gotten bigger, what hasn’t changed is our commitment to the land we’ve called home generations, our dedication to fresh produce and home-cooked craftsmanship, and the family values that we live and breathe every day. Find out more about our history below.

Johann George and Anna Rosina Paech sail with their five children from Prussia to South Australia. With 52 other families, they establish a village in the Adelaide Hills, Hahndorf, naming it after their ship’s captain.

Five generations later, Grant and Carol Paech inherit the farm and diversify by planting a strawberry crop on the fertile pastures. Enterprising from the start, Grant begins to sell strawberries from a roadside tin shed he’s built.

All of these fresh strawberries allow for the best idea of all, the introduction of strawberry jam. They just need a name. Grant settles on ‘Beerenberg’, meaning ‘Berry Hill’ in German. The iconic brand is born.

In the spirit of mouth-watering ideas, Grant and Carol pioneer a ‘pick your own strawberries’ concept and within a short time, Beerenberg becomes a busy tourist destination for visitors and locals alike.

A brand new, purpose-built shop and factory is constructed on the property and the original tin shed turned into a farm workshop.

Beerenberg jam takes flight, literally! Grant reads a newspaper article that mentions Qantas is serving imported jams to their first-class passengers. Grant makes a call and the rest is history.

Inspired by the heritage green with gold trim of the famous Princes St bridge in Melbourne, Grant introduces a more premium look to the retail range.

Business goes from strength to strength and Grant and Carol pass ‘Grandma’s pan’ over to their sons – the sixth generation to be involved. Robert becomes Farm Manager, while Anthony becomes Managing Director.

New product development goes into full swing, particularly in the condiments and dressings categories. Our products now take pride of place in independent supermarkets, Coles, Woolworths and gourmet stores.

This is the year we unveiled our now iconic re-design, heralding our quality, authenticity and provenance. We now proudly display our family, friends, and staff’s stories on our jars and domestic sales increase dramatically.

Beerenberg expands with a major office/warehouse/factory development.

We unveilled our brand new visitor experience centre, including our farm cafe, farm-made icecream, cooking demonstrations and tastings, a new farm shop and private event spaces.