What's next for beloved Aussie food icon Maggie Beer?

Nov 14, 2023

She’s one of the most cherished identities on the Australian food scene, and now Maggie Beer is taking on a new food challenge.

In the realm of Australian icons, few could be more beloved than the incomparable Maggie Beer. The famed cook, author, food producer and TV personality has once again been recognised for her passion and dedication to the Australian food industry, being presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Australian Food award at the recent delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards.

As patron of the awards program, this particular honour has always been Beer’s to bestow. Previous winners include chefs Neil Perry and Peter Gilmore, environmentalist Joost Bakker and international cheese specialist Will Studd.

This year, as Beer announced that she would be stepping away from her role as patron, it was her turn to be celebrated. And the plan was to keep it a secret for as long as possible. “I found out on the morning of the awards,” she says with a laugh. “I thought they would just say, you know, ‘thank you very much’, and I’d hand (the patronage) over to someone else. So it was really lovely. I was chuffed.”

“The awards have been such a cornerstone of my life. As a produce-driven cook, and as a farmer and producer myself, I know so much about the hard work that’s required. So when I started being part of the national judging, it was really fantastic. Each year, it was, ‘Look how far we’ve come!’”

Sharing a tribute to Beer on the evening, via video, was previous Outstanding Contribution award-winner Alla Wolf-Tasker. The esteemed restaurateur and chef said it was “a particular joy” to see Beer presented with the award, as it was to “personally witness her enthusiasm and dedication to good produce, and to the efforts of Australian producers”.

Of course, as Wolf-Tasker pointed out, Beer’s sphere of influence over Australian food has a reach that has spanned far beyond the borders of the farm gate. Roles on MasterChef and The Great Australian Bake Off, along with a popular line of premium food products, have made Maggie Beer a household name.

She and her husband Colin also sponsor the Saskia Beer Churchill Fellowship, to honour the memory of their late daughter. This provides aspiring entrepreneurs, growers and artisans with access to training and education, and to explore new innovations in food production.

But there’s a new passion driving Beer now, and one that she plans to focus all her energies on – the Maggie Beer Foundation. The charity aims to improve the food experience for older Australians living in aged care.

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“It began back in 2010 when I was made Senior Australian of the Year,” Beer says. “One of my speaking requests was to 1000 aged-care CEOs at their annual conference. I did a lot of research, to do a keynote speech. And when your world is food, and you find things that are just not acceptable? It became a drive; I had to find ways of changing it.”

Changing it she is. On August 29, along with Beer, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Aged Care officially launched the Improving Food in Aged Care through Education and Training program. This will provide chefs and cooks at aged-care facilities with the training they need to provide residents with more nutritious, appealing and enjoyable meals. It’s a big task, and a costly one, but this new initiative is a meaningful step towards improving a crucially important service that has, up until now, been sorely lacking.

“There are some brilliant places, but there are many more that aren’t,” Beer says of aged-care facilities. “And with the small budgets, the lack of training – there isn’t even a standard of needing a Certificate III for a cook. And it’s specialised! These are residents with complex needs. There’s so much (the cooks) have to know, and they’re not given a lot of support, or respect, or salary. And yet, they are the ones that can make the most difference to every resident in their care, every day of their lives.”

As part of her plan to help drive change, Beer will also lead a three-part ABC documentary series in 2024, Maggie Beer’s Big Mission. Over four months, Beer and her team will attempt to overhaul the food, dining experience and overall surrounds of a single aged-care facility. “It’s a huge responsibility,” she says. “But this is what I would love to see for every home.”