How the American Dream is supposed to work
In 1928, a German immigrant named J.B. Wieser planted a small peach orchard outside Fredericksburg, Texas. His son Mark kept it going, and in 1969 he opened Das Peach Haus, a roadside stand built from an 1870s log cabin, selling Hill Country peaches and homemade preserves.
In 1979 Mark hired a 15-year-old named Case Fischer to help with the summer peach harvest.
Case stayed. He learned farming and preserving, and he had an idea: make more kinds of jams and jellies, because people loved them. In 1986 Mark made him a partner, and the company became Fischer & Wieser. The teenager who was hired to pick peaches is now a partner.
That’s the kind of company we want to stock. At For Better Lives, that’s one of the reasons we exist: when the people doing the work help build something, they should share in it. We are committed to paying living wages and sharing profits with our employees, and when the big guys come to try to buy us out, we will say no.
Today Fischer & Wieser makes more than 150 products, all of them made right there in Fredericksburg. I’ve stopped at Das Peach Haus more times than I can count on drives between Austin and Kerrville, and it’s always worth the stop.
What we carry from Fischer & Wieser
- Fredericksburg Peach Jam, where it all started
- Whole Lemon Fig Marmalade
- Amaretto Peach Pecan Preserves
- Toasted Cinnamon Pear Preserves
- Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves
- Triple Berry Jam
- Bacon & Apple Jam, for the person on your list who's hard to shop for
At $6.50 to $7.50 a jar, they make easy holiday gifts, whether one jar goes in a stocking or a few go together in a basket. Orders over $60 ship free.