The Luv-a-Duck Story

In the Beginning

In 1958, when 20 year old Art Shoppee moved to Nhill in the heart of the Victorian Wimmera to take over a dry cleaning business, he had no idea that destiny was calling. Some years later, after a very successful trial raising 20 ducklings in his back shed and selling them to restaurants in Adelaide, Art realised there was a market for these feathered delicacies and conceived the idea of a major duck breeding business.

A Risky Business

Initial results, after moving his expanding venture to a nearby farm, were not promising. The ducks were raised in open pens, exposed to heat, rain, crows and foxes. This almost led to ruin until the first protective sheds were introduced. Back in these early days processing was done manually and gradually automation was incorporated.

Don't Quit

A string of disasters left Art wondering if it was worth continuing. Fire destroyed the processing plant on two separate occasions and then another fire killed 8,000 ducklings. However, Art’s determination to succeed and do things well, along with a poem handed to him by his father entitled "Don't Quit", allowed him to rebuild and move forward.

Today’s Luv-a-Duck

Today we have a world class facility on our 200 hectare farm, surrounded by thousands of hectares of golden grain fields, where Luv-a-Duck ducks convert into magnificent meals.

Our ducks are a special breed, featuring a young, tender, meaty duck with a high breast meat thickness. Our processing plant is equipped with state-of-the-art processing equipment and is accredited for export.

Australia’s Favourite Duck

We are Australia’s leading producer of duck products with our own sales and distribution centres in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and distributors in all other cities. We export Australia’s Favourite Duck to Asia, South East Asia, the Pacific Islands and to the Middle East.