Penrith Made: Clover Fields

In 1983, creator Liz Valek started Clover Fields when she sustained a major leg injury after returning home to Australia after living overseas for many years. 

The injury was even more devastating as it occurred the night before she was due to commence a new job at Westmead Hospital. To occupy Liz’s time as she recuperated, she began making handcrafted products including bath salts, soaps and drawer scenters for the local church fete. As interest for Liz’s products from local businesses grew, so did Clover Fields. From a small boutique in the Blue Mountains, it wasn’t long before Liz moved to a larger factory location in Penrith to keep up with the rapid growth of the business.

The move to Penrith and subsequent growth allowed Clover Fields to become the first company in Australia to replace animal tallow-based soaps with pure vegetable base and they continue to be at the forefront of innovation in environmentally conscious products and manufacturing. Over time their focus has shifted towards reducing waste and making plastic-free and eco-friendly products. Their cultural ethos is to provide eco-sustainable products that have minimal environmental impact, and to produce modern products with recyclable and compostable packaging.

Although primarily a soap manufacturer, Clover Fields produces a wide range of body care and toiletry products and are sold worldwide. One of their best-selling products are solid shampoo and conditioner bars which save 6 plastic bottles from polluting the environment per bar and involved over 2 years of research and development to perfect. Their brand ‘SWAP - Shampoo with a Purpose’ is the market leader in shampoo bars in Australia.

Liz attributes Clover Fields’ success to her dedicated team with aligned vision and focus that she hopes will continue to drive the business forward into the future.

You can find out more about Clover Fields here: www.cloverfields.com

We will continue to bring you more profiles on Australian Made in Penrith businesses in coming months. Are you a local producer, maker or manufacturer? We’d love to hear from you; email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.