HISTORY // T H E B AROS S A MAG | 25
Barossa Food
Vineyards haven’t always dominated the
Barossa landscape. It once had orchards
bearing an abundance of different fruits
that required industries that are now
long gone.
In the 1940's the Warnecke family was
operating the Barossa Dehydration
Company at Gawler Street, Nuriootpa
(now the site of Carpet Court); then
they ventured into a new business that
quickly became the largest in the town.
Barossa Canneries Limited started
in 1948. During the summer months,
seasonal fruits including apricots,
peaches, pears and plums were canned.
Manager of the cannery, Mr Marcus
Warnecke, faced the problem of keeping
his staff of 70 together when the fruit
season ended.
Tinned Christmas pudding and fruit
WORDS BY LUKE ROTHE
mince were produced as a side-line to
fill the gap between seasons. the characteristic home-made touches
of the Christmas puddings.
By mid 1949, the cannery was working
to capacity producing 5,000 tins of
Christmas pudding, and 12,000 tins of
fruit mince a day, but they were unable
to meet the demands of the British
market. The cannery offered local employment
to about 400 at its peak, including a
large percentage of women.
By December that year the factory
had exported nearly a million tins of
pudding to Britain.
Barossa home recipes were used
which were modified to meet food
specifications; and with the exception of
sugar, all other main ingredients were
grown locally including dried fruits,
candied peel, eggs, flour and bread from
local bakeries.
The bread was hand sliced and sun dried
to make bread crumbs, which was one of
Children worked during school holidays
- John Lowke recalls working as a local
lad to pull stems off cherries!
In 1951 the Barossa Canneries entered a
float into the Vintage Festival parade. It
featured a working exhibit and samples
of their product were tossed to the
crowd.
By the mid 1950s export markets were
declining rapidly, and Australian sales
were difficult due to competitive pricing
by large players such as IXL and Brooker
& Sons.
Barossa Canneries closed its operations
in 1959, followed by an auction of
machinery and plant in June, 1960. It
wasn’t until the success of the Kaiser
Stuhl winery in the late 1960s that locals
again found large scale employment at
Nuriootpa.
Sadly, the old Warnecke house that stood
next to the original canning factory site
in Gawler Street was demolished before
Christmas, but surviving labels, tins
and advertising attest to the vast array
of tinned products made at Nuriootpa
– Dill cucumbers, carrots, sauerkraut,
fruits (including low calorie), jam,
tomato juice, lemon spread, steak and
kidney pies, fruit pies, and more.
This product range made Barossa
Canneries Ltd. uniquely different to
any of its Barossa predecessors, and
exemplifies our Barossa food heritage.