Fruit Jams and Preserves

Jam is made by cooking fruit with sugar until it reaches a gel-like set, creating a sweet, spreadable preserve. It’s a breakfast and baking staple — spread on toast, spooned onto scones, swirled through yoghurt, or used as a filling in cakes, tarts, and biscuits.

Australia has a strong tradition of home jam-making, particularly with stone fruits and berries in season. Commercial jams range from smooth, evenly set varieties to chunkier conserves and preserves with visible pieces of fruit. The sugar content is what gives jam its long shelf life, acting as a natural preservative.

Farmed
photograph to come — from twenty years of markets, farms and kitchens

How it's made

Fruit is washed, prepared (hulled, stoned, or chopped as needed), and cooked with sugar and often pectin — a natural gelling agent — and a small amount of acid such as lemon juice. The mixture is boiled until it reaches setting point, then poured into sterilised jars and sealed while hot.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Energy 277kcal
Protein 0.4g
Carbs 67.8g
Fat 0.1g
Fibre 1.1g Sugar 48.5g
Mass Distribution

1 packet (0.5 oz) is about 14 g — roughly 40 kcal of this.

What it costs the planet (per kilo)

Carbon ≈1.02kg
Freshwater ≈211.96L
Land ≈1.14m²

≈ Estimated — worked out from a category-typical value further up its supply chain. Where this comes from →

Where it comes from

Made from
Fruit, fruit

In the kitchen

Used as

sweet spread or glaze

Goes well with
butter cream cheese bread scone pork
Classic dishes
  • Victoria sponge
  • PB&J sandwich
  • Cream tea
  • Glazed ham

Keeping one at home? Track yours in your cubud →

Where this data comes from

Nutrition data from

USDA

How it was calculated

SR Legacy

Full credits, licences, and methods: the sources page →

Where to next

made fromFruit, fruit goes well withbutter goes well withcream cheese goes well withbread goes well withpork shares a sourceFrozen Fruit Desserts shares a sourceFruit Derivatives shares a sourceFruit Snacks and Leather
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