non-fictionBiography of Australian rabbit exporter.jack mccraith, rabbits, rabbit meat industry

Wodonga Poultry Suppliers was established in the late 1940s by Albert (Bert) Elkington in partnership with his father-in-law Artie Phillips and Aubrey Gilbert. From the beginning they had an eye on the export market. Artie (Arthur) Phillips sold Bert and Aubrey the land and became the third partner. In 1945 Aubrey and Bert each gained a repatriation loan and scored £500. They cleared the land, made the bricks by hand, built freezers and killing pens and started killing and selling to the local trade. By 1947 they had completed the first large freezer, packing room and killing sheds all to the specifications of the Department of Primary Industry. They gained an export licence and began exports to England under the brand name “Donga”. By 1950, 120,000 poultry and 50,000 pairs of rabbits annually left the Athol St, Wodonga premises for overseas markets. Unfortunately the business was adversely impacted by the English wharf strike, with large stock losses and changes to the English poultry trade. Wodonga Poultry Suppliers made changes to the plant to cater for meat export to the ready markets of England, Greece, the Persian Gulf and Japan. By the 1962, Wodonga Poultry Suppliers were exporting poultry, rabbits, hares, lamb, mutton, pie offal and quarter beef to the UK, mutton to Greece and veal sides to Bahrain. The business had outgrown the original works in Athol St and larger and improved facilities were needed. Donga Meats Pty Ltd was set up in October 1963. In 1967 Bert Elkington sold his share of the company to Consolidated Meat Holdings and came back for a time as a stock controller. He passed away in Wodonga in 1993. These images are significant because they document an early major export industry established in Wodonga, Victoria. A collection of images documenting production at the Wodonga Poultry Suppliers premises in the late 1940s.wodonga poultry suppliers, early wodonga businesses, bert elkington