A prominent Gippsland free range turkey brand is set to expand to process more than 30,000 birds after its owner found a new buyer for the business weeks before its doors were to close.
Judy Leadoux and her late husband, John, formed Leadoux Turkeys in 1982 originally as a small 100-bird hobby operation at Ellaswood, near Bairnsdale, in East Gippsland.
As consumer demand for turkeys changed and popularity of the brand grew, the operation gradually increased in capacity to process 10,000 birds annually.
"If somebody had told me 45 years ago that I would have been a turkey farmer I would have laughed at them," Mrs Leadoux said.
With plans to retire and no one to take over the business, Mrs Leadoux was preparing to close the operation when Melbourne-based company Pindarri Poultry bought the business in March.
Pindarri Poultry director Gavan Broad said he felt inspired by Mrs Leadoux's vision for the company and decided to purchase the business after two weeks of negotiations.
"I thought it would be such a pity to see it close after 40 years of hard work," Mr Broad said.
"I'm not interested in birds that aren't free range and after seeing the operation, I thought it wouldn't be fair to let it close given the time and effort Judy has put into it over all these years."
Under the new ownership, Leadoux Turkeys will retain its name with plans afoot to triple processing at the facility within a year to 30,000 birds.
The deal includes a 40-hectare site at Hillside, west of Bairnsdale, on the Princes Highway where Pindarri plans to follow through with Mrs Leadoux's dream of opening a shop to sell turkey direct to the public.
"The company currently has five employees and with plans to expand and triple processing, we expect to employ about another 10 people," Mr Broad said.
From humble beginnings
Originally when the Leadouxs started the company, turkeys were processed at a local chicken processor in Bairnsdale.
When the facility added an automatic chicken processing line, it meant turkeys could no longer be slaughtered at the site due to their size.
It led to the establishment of a licensed on-farm abattoir.
"The first turkey we processed took about an hour with one person holding the (how to) book and the other person holding the knife but we managed to improve somewhat after that," Mrs Leadoux said.
The farm is one of only a handful of free range turkey operations in Victoria and features the Broad Breasted White turkey, grown for meat and renowned for their quick weight gain.
Hens are slaughtered at 14 weeks, weighing seven to eight kilograms, while toms (male turkeys) at the same age dress out to 10-12 kilograms.
Between 14-18 weeks, toms gain 2.5kg on average each week.
Mrs Leadoux said turkeys were fed a pellet pre-mix and grazed on pasture, however, the drought in East Gippsland had proved challenging in recent years.
Sold from Sydney to the Apple Isle
In the last four decades, the operation has grown in popularity with meat stocked in 40 different outlets from Sydney to Tasmania.
When the Leadouxs started breeding turkeys, it was classified as specialty meat only for Christmas and important occasions.
But since then, the business has grown to offer 35 different products, promoting the meat as an everyday fare.
Products include turkey schnitzels, sausages, small goods, mince, chops, stir fry, wings and drum sticks, to name a few.
Mrs Leadoux described running a turkey farm as that similar to a dairy operation because "someone has to be there all the time".
She said the business was a lasting legacy of her husband who died in 2013 from bowel cancer.
"I admired the way John coped with his illness ... he was very stoic and wouldn't give up but in the end the disease did get him. I'm pleased to see our dream live on," she said.
'Aristocratic' creatures
Mrs Leadoux was the first to admit turkeys were her husband's hobby but as time went on her love for the peculiar bird grew.
"When people say they're not attractive, well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I think they're very aristocratic, particularly the big toms," Mrs Leadoux said.
"When they're poults they're very small and they're really cute and then grow to scruffy teenagers and then they mature into hens with bloom and they look just beautiful."
Mrs Leadoux will stay on with the company as an adviser.
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