Visiting the town of Hahndorf, just half an hour from Adelaide’s CBD, feels like a stroll through a German village.
The popular tourist destination is Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement, with authentic architecture and many businesses selling traditional cuisine, clothing and trinkets.
It was a town founded by dozens of Prussian families who fled religious persecution and arrived in South Australia in the 1800s.
One of the families on the boat was the Paech family, who arrived and founded Beerenberg Farm.
So far, the company has lasted six generations with its current owners Anthony, Robert and Sally Paech overseeing all the operations today.
When the Paech family first settled on their land, they started off as dairy farmers.
“Dad was actually the local milkman, he inherited the farm from his parents, it was still a dairy farm at that stage. He had studied agriculture and farming and decided to try something different, that's when he started farming strawberries. “
MD Anthony Paech and Marketing Director Sally Paech. Source: SBS
It was the entrepreneurial spirit of the Paech patriarch and Anthony and Sally’s father Grant, who started what's grown into a multi-million dollar business.
He saw opportunity in the farm's location - on what was then the main highway between Melbourne and Adelaide.
“He told the story to me about how he was hammering the iron up on the shed, and everyone kept stopping to buy strawberries. So he thought, ‘I'm going to add a door on the shed, and have a shop,’”says Anthony.
“We went from farmer to retailer in one step, and filled in the gaps as we went.”
For many years, it was little more than a roadside stall, selling fresh fruit and cream, until an excess strawberry harvest led to an experiment in jam-making.
It was a move so successful it propelled Beerenberg in a new direction, prompting national expansion.
Sally says, “When we first started exporting in the mid-1980s, there were always problems. Everything was new to mum and dad. Dad had to buy a suit - his first suit, because he was a farmer - he needed one go on a sales trip around Australia.”
Beerenberg condiments and preserves. Source: SBS
Beerenberg jams have taken flight - stocked at breakfast tables in leading hotels across the world, as well as on some airlines.
But the business hit a stumbling block with domestic expansion.
The Paech family realised the brand's Prussian heritage was confusing to buyers who wanted to shop local.
“People who grew up in SA understand the Hahndorf story with the German-speaking Prussians that came out on the boat but we realised in around 2012 that we didn't really speak to people who weren't familiar with the Hahndorf story,” Sally says.
A major rebrand followed, including new packaging designs, helping to boost sales nationwide.
And the family business that grew from a humble roadside stall, has become a major tourist attraction. The company opens its doors every spring for strawberry picking season.
These days at the family farm, a different taste has taken root.
Beerenberg Farm has become a local tourist attraction. Source: SBS
Today, the business is turning its focus to the growth area of savoury condiments, with unique products such as tomato chutney and caramelised onion in hot demand.
Its newly expanded range is now stocked Australia-wide by independent and major supermarkets.
The Paech family have their eye on a slice of the US market, so further expansion is on the cards.
Anthony says, “We're growing at about 10 per cent a year. We've got about 75 full-time equivalents, and we've got a goal to get to about 2020 with about 100 full-time equivalents.”
And while they're enjoying the sweet taste of success, for Anthony and Sally making delicious condiments is also a way of life.
Sally says, “It's more than just luck, I think we fell in love with the business as you grow up with it, and it just becomes a part of you.”
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