Chef, food author, restaurateur, food manufacturer, business woman and advocate for aged welfare, Maggie Beer is an Australian icon.

Maggie and her husband Colin settled in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. Together, they began the Pheasant Farm Restaurant, (winning the Rémy Martin Cognac – Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant of the Year Award; the highest accolade of the Industry) which morphed into the Farm Shop and the successful Maggie Beer Products business. The Farm Shop, vineyards, olive orchards, fruit orchards and Maggie’s B&B Orchard House, together with The Eatery restaurant, run by Maggie’s daughter Elli, and Saskia Beer Farm Produce, run by son-in-law Petar, are all part of the family businesses at Pheasant Farm.

Maggie has been a judge on The Great Australian Bake Off, a regular guest on MasterChef Australia and co-host of The Cook and the Chef as well as an author with her books being translated into multiple languages. She has been awarded Senior Australian of the Year, Telstra South Australian Business Woman of the Year, the Centenary Medal for service to Australian society through cooking and writing and an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia in recognition of her achievements in tourism and hospitality, and to the promotion of Australian produce and cuisine.

Already appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (in 2012), in 2022, Maggie was promoted to Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “distinguished service to the tourism and hospitality industries as a cook, restaurateur and author, and to aged welfare.”

In 2014 Maggie established the Maggie Beer Foundation to ensure health, happiness, and quality of life for every older Australian and works to advocate, educate, facilitate research, and share the latest knowledge and skills required with the Cooks and Chefs who are able to do so much to change the lives of the residents in their care.