How Bauman’s keeps a century-old apple tradition alive for farms near and far
ON CRISP AUTUMN MORNINGS in Sassamansville, steam drifts from a red wooden building with a tall metal stack, carrying the scent of simmering apples. Drivers passing through the sleepy Berks County crossroads may miss the old homes and churches, but no one misses the sign out front: Bauman’s Family Apple Butter. For more than a century, this unassuming factory has transformed local fruit into jars of deeply flavored butter and gallons of cider—sustaining farms, delighting market-goers, and keeping a rare piece of Pennsylvania’s agricultural past very much alive.
The story begins with John Bauman, a carpenter and machinist who opened a carriage shop here in the late 1800s. As factory-built buggies overtook his trade, he adapted, buying a cider press in 1892 to serve nearby farms. Around 1900, John began making apple butter using his wife’s family recipe. Traditional kettle cooking was dangerous work: molten fruit bubbled and spat, burning unprotected skin. John, ever the tinkerer, invented a safer system. His patented 1905 lid captured steam and contained splatters, making the job easier and safer. Remarkably, a version of his innovation is still used at Bauman’s today.
The business stayed in the family. John’s son Stanley and his wife Ruth took over in 1928, running the factory until the 1970s. Their son Harvey, trained as a mechanical engineer, modernized the plant with stainless-steel cookers, multiple production lines, and better screening systems. Harvey and his wife Kathy assumed full-time leadership in 2005, extending Bauman’s reach across Pennsylvania and beyond.
Although apple butter remains the star, the Baumans have broadened their offerings. Peach butter, ketchup, tomato sauce, salsa, and even Asian pear cider now roll off the line. Unlike most co-packers, Bauman’s remains one of the few places where small farms can bring their own fruit—whether bushels of apples or flats of strawberries—and have it processed into butter, purée, or cider. That unusual openness keeps Bauman’s central to the region’s food web.
For anyone curious to see the process, Bauman’s welcomes visitors. The factory hums on weekdays, but weekend tours can be arranged. A fall trip offers the reward of hot apple butter, fresh cider, and even a frosty cider slushy for the ride home. Supporting them means supporting the wider network of farms and makers that depend on their presses and kettles.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Bauman’s Apple Butter Factory
116 Hoffmansville Road,
Sassamansville, PA
Weekend tours available by request. Open year-round; peak apple butter production runs September–December.
Farms and Makers Who Rely on Bauman’s
TAPROOT FARM (Shoemakersville, PA): Longtime Bauman’s partners, Taproot grows tomatoes and peppers destined for salsa and pasta sauce, sold at Chestnut Hill and Media farmers markets.
FRECON FARMS (Boyertown, PA): Major apple and peach suppliers for Bauman’s cider and fruit butters. Frecon also has its apples pressed at Bauman’s for both fresh cider and the base of their hard ciders, distributed widely in the region.
THE FRANKLIN FOUNTAIN (Philadelphia): This Old City soda fountain sends peaches and strawberries—sourced from Frecon and Mast Farm in Lancaster—to Bauman’s for purées that flavor its ice creams, along with seasonal apple and pumpkin butters. Sister shop Shane Confectionery uses them, too.
GIORDANO GARDEN GROCERIES (Philadelphia): Offers Bauman’s cider seasonally and fruit butters year-round, available for home delivery. giordanogardengroceries.com
PENNSYLVANIA GENERAL STORE (Reading Terminal Market): A dependable city source for Bauman’s wide array of fruit butters.
