Maggie Beer
One of Australia’s most popular food personalities.
Maggie Beer’s extensive career within the food industry has seen her work as a restaurant owner, chef, food writer and TV personality.
Originally raised in the western suburbs of Sydney, Maggie left school at an early age, without a 'proper' education, and worked in a number of jobs before finding her passion for the culinary arts.
Maggie & her husband Colin Beer moved to South Australia's Barossa Valley in 1973 to farm pheasants on their new property. After Colin studied game bird breeding in Europe and America with a Churchill Fellowship, the two returned to the Barossa Valley to open a farm shop to sell their game birds. Before long, this humble shop evolved into the famous Pheasant Farm Restaurant. The Pheasant Farm and restaurant marked the start of Maggie’s prolific career, spanning farming, food production and export, as well as food writing.
After a successful 15 year run, Maggie and Colin Beer closed the restaurant in 1993 to focus on expanding their range of gourmet foods. This included the fan-favourite signature Pheasant Farm pate, which was in growing demand from gourmet food outlets across the country.
In 1997, Maggie’s next major venture was a Tanunda export kitchen which featured state-of-the-art facilities, with a kitchen purpose-built for the production of preservative-free gourmet foods. With direct support from then-premier of South Australia John Olson, the export kitchen was at the forefront of gourmet food production for national and international markets.
Today, their food products have expanded to include a range of meat and vegetarian pates, olive oil, verjuice, preserves, condiments and desserts. With stronger distribution channels across the world, they now export their products overseas to Japan, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US.
When Maggie and Colin returned to their pheasant farm in 1999, they revitalised the venue by bringing the farm shop back to its original concept. Proudly located in the Barossa Valley, Maggie Beer's Farm Shop and Restaurant continues to serve luxury experiences with gourmet food products.
Maggie’s career as a beloved food personality has seen her make her TV debut as a judge on 'The Great Australian Bake Off', where she shares her love of food with an Australian audience by witnessing, tasting and judging some of the best food creations that Australia has to offer.