Beerenberg Farm builds on Hahndorf heritage and strawberries to be major South Australian food tourism drawcard
The branding of the Beerenberg Farm at South Australia's Hahndorf evolved under Grant and Carol Peach and their sons. The jars' design moved from the green and gold to featuring family, friends and staff’s stories in 2013. Other key marketing phases were the pick your own strawberries, the Qantas jams and the visitor experience centre in 2022.
Images courtesy Beerenberg Farm
From a South Australian German heritage in 1839, the Peach family’s Beerenberg Farm at Hahndorf made leaps in the 20th Century by promoting its 100% Australian product. One its literal leaps in 1987 was when fifth-generation Grant Paech persuaded Qantas airlines to use Beerenberg Farm products rather than the imported jams it was serving first-class passengers.
The family’s story in South Australia started with Johann George and Anna Rosina Paech arriving in 1839 from Prussia with their five children. With 52 other families, they set up a village in the Adelaide Hills, named Hahndorf after their ship’s captain.
Grant and Carol Peach inherited the family farm on the outskirts of Harhndorf in 1969. They diversified by planting a strawberry crop on the fertile pastures and Grant Peach began selling strawberries from a roadside tin shed he’d built. Making strawberry jam was the next step, followed by a brand name: Beerenberg, meaning “berry hill” in German.
Beerenberg Farm’s start as a tourist draw was set off in 1975 by the Paech’s invitation for visitors and locals to pick their own strawberries. Inspired by the heritage green with gold trim of the Princes Street bridge in Melbourne, Grant Peach in 1990 introduced a more premium look to the retail range. In 1999, with business booming, Grant and Carol Paech passed “Grandma’s pan” over to their sons Robert as farm manager and Anthony as managing director.
Products expanded, particularly into condiments and dressings, and featured on the shelves of independent supermarkets, Coles, Woolworths and gourmet stores. An inconic redesign of the range’s look was introduced in 2013, with family, friends and staff’s stories on the jars as domestic sales increased dramatically.
Beerenberg’s Hahndorf premises expanded in 2018 with a major new office, warehouse and factory. development. A new visitor experience centre, including the farm cafe, farm-made icecream, cooking demonstrations and tastings, a arm shop and private event spaces opened in 2022.
Beerenberg Strawberry Jam remained the best selling product, with caramelised onion a close second.
