There are some names that just feel like they have always been there.
For many Australian families, Sunbeam is one of them. It is the packet of sultanas in the pantry, the mixed fruit in the Christmas cake, the raisins in school lunch boxes, and the dried fruit that has found its way into kitchens, bakeries and food businesses across the country.
But for Sunraysia, Sunbeam Foods is more than just a familiar supermarket brand. It is part of our local story.
In 2026, Sunbeam Foods celebrates 100 years, and that is a milestone worth pausing for. The company was founded in Mildura in 1926, in the heart of the dried fruit country that helped put this region on the map. From the start, Sunbeam built its reputation around the produce that grows so well here: fruit ripened under long sunny days, grown in red soil, and supported by the Murray River irrigation system.
From Mildura Beginnings to a Household Name
Sunbeam’s story began at a time when dried fruit was one of the great industries of Sunraysia. Generations of growers were building vineyards, packing fruit, and helping create a reputation for quality Australian sultanas, raisins and currants.
The Sunbeam name was first used in 1926 by Co-operative Dried Fruits Sales Proprietary Limited. In 1928, the company became Australian Dried Fruits Sales Pty Ltd, and today it trades as Sunbeam Foods Pty Ltd.
That co-operative background is important, because dried fruit in this region has always been about more than one business. It has been about growers, families, seasonal workers, packers, processors, marketers, and whole communities built around the annual rhythm of growing, drying and packing fruit.
Over the years, Sunbeam grew from a Mildura-based name into one of Australia’s best-known dried fruit brands. Its products became staples in home baking, Christmas puddings, fruit cakes, lunch boxes, cereals and commercial kitchens.
A Big Part of Sunraysia’s Food Story
Today, Sunbeam Foods remains based in the Mildura district, with its headquarters at Irymple. The company says it sources fruit from growers across Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia, with many products still strongly connected to the Murray Basin and the dried fruit growing regions around us.
And while many of us know Sunbeam from the supermarket shelf, the business is much broader than that.
Sunbeam supplies products in retail packs, foodservice sizes and bulk industrial formats. Its range includes sultanas, raisins, currants, mixed fruit, apricots, prunes, peaches, pears, apple, nuts and other dried fruit products. These are marketed mainly under the Sunbeam and Angas Park brands.
That means Sunbeam is not just selling to families making a fruit cake at home. It also supplies industrial manufacturers, domestic wholesalers, foodservice customers and export markets.
In simple terms, fruit grown and processed through this region can end up in homes, bakeries, cafes, factories and food businesses well beyond Sunraysia.
Taking Sunraysia Produce to the World
One of the great things about businesses like Sunbeam is that they carry the name and reputation of this region far beyond the farm gate.
Sunbeam Foods markets dried fruit products both domestically and internationally, and its own history proudly points to serving domestic and international customers for decades.
For a region like ours, agriculture is not just about what is grown. It is about value adding, processing, packing, jobs, transport, skills, exports, and the flow-on effect to local businesses. When a brand like Sunbeam reaches 100 years, it is not just a company milestone. It is also a reminder of the long-running role Sunraysia has played in Australian food production.
A Century Built on Growers
Of course, behind every packet is a grower.
Sunbeam has acknowledged that its brand is built on its grower community, including families who have been growing dried fruit grapes for generations. The company has also spoken publicly about the impact weather events can have on crops, including the difficulties caused by heavy rain and flooding in recent seasons.
Anyone from this part of the world knows agriculture is never simple. There are good years, tough years, heat, rain, water issues, labour pressures and market changes. So to survive 100 years in this industry says something about resilience — not just from the company, but from the growers and workers behind it.
100 Years of Sun-Soaked Goodness
To mark the milestone, Sunbeam is celebrating 100 years with commemorative promotions, including a special tin and digital cookbook offer tied to the purchase of Sunbeam products.
See here…. https://www.sunbeam100yrs.com.au/
It is a nice nod to the way Sunbeam has lived in Australian kitchens for a century. For some, it will bring back memories of fruit cake at Christmas, sultanas in school lunches, or Mum and Nan baking with mixed fruit. For others, it is just a trusted brand sitting quietly on the pantry shelf.
But here in Sunraysia, it is also a local success story.
A business that started in Mildura in 1926 is still tied to our region 100 years later. It has supported growers, created jobs, helped tell the story of Australian dried fruit, and carried a little bit of our sunshine into homes and markets around the country and overseas.
That is something worth celebrating.
So happy 100th birthday to Sunbeam Foods — a true Sunraysia name, and one that has well and truly earned its place in the pantry.