McNab Orchards have been growing fruit for over 100 years in Ardmona, Victoria. and purchased 80 acres in Ardmona from the Pagan family in 1910.
Victor Richard McNab (1879 – 1962)
Victor retired from teaching and lecturing in Geology and Assaying at the Working Man’s College in Melbourne (now R.M.I.T.) He had planted fruit trees on most of the land by 1912. Some of the original blocks of William pear trees are still producing record-quality crops of pears today. Victor McNab was the first company secretary / director of the new Ardmona can
nery in Mooroopna in 1921. Herbert Victor McNab (1906 – 1972)
Herbert greatly improved the Ardmona orchard, concentrating on producing quality pears, peaches and apricots for the Ardmona cannery. He also produced Packham pears, Josephine pears and Granny Smith apples for the domestic and export markets. Herbert enjoyed life and the many working friendships that were developed. He purchased 160 acres of neighboring land to increase the size of the orchard and established the business name “H V McNab & Son Pty Ltd”. Colin Herbert McNab (1935 – 2000)
Colin helped his father develop the additional land, and planted apples and peaches, gradually growing more fruit for the fresh markets and for export. Colin also diversified into farming, as well as founding the Avalon Murray Grey Stud in 1968 under the business name “C H McNab & Sons Pty Ltd”. This new enterprise grew lucerne, wheat, oats and other crops. In 1973 Colin purchased 180 acres at Undera on the edge of the Goulburn River to hold the increasing cattle numbers and to allow the cropping of wheat and oats in Spring/Summer. In 1980 a property one block away (1 mile) from the orchard was bought and the land at Undera was sold. The new block on the west boundary of Ardmona’s Starritt Road is 322 acres. With son Andrew helping, they quickly improved the new land. The business diversified further, building a warehouse storage facility on the orchard in 1987. Andrew Richard McNab ( 1962- Present )
Fruit growing was rapidly changing in the tree-design and management areas and the first McNab trees planted on Tatura trellis were canning peaches in 1984. A five-room cool store complex, totally computer-controlled, was built in 1992. In 1996 a further 4 rooms were added, bringing the total controlled-atmosphere storage capacity to 4000 bins. In 1996 the business obtained the ISO9002 Quality Accreditation, an internationally recognized quality management standard. 2002 saw the purchase of an additional 107 acres in Turnbull Road, along with other property developments. All four of the fruit-growing McNab generations have served on the board of directors of the Ardmona cannery in Mooroopna, which was Ardmona Foods Limited. In 2002 the Ardmona cannery merged with SPC in Shepparton to become SPC-Ardmona Limited, which the McNab family have since ceased its interest in. Mitchell McNab (1990 - Present)
Mitchell has helped the progression of the families traditionally Canning orientated business transition towards a fresh fruit producing business, though the removal of canning varieties and the planting of fresh fruit varieties, namely the introduction of Plum & other Stone Fruit varieties. With ever increasing pressure from retailers, the business's focus has been pushed towards producing the highest quality produce possible, to ensure that the consumers who buy our fruit have the most enjoyable eating experience they can. Mitchell has also helped transition the business into the use of technology after being awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2016, the introduction of state of the art orchard management software and the use of Fruit bin tracking systems allowed for the business to track every bin of fruit from harvest through to the delivery to consumer shelves in super markets, ensuring the quality of the product is never compromised. Mitchell has also helped aid the introduction of Robotics into the business, conducting an in orchard trial with Ripe Robotics to trial their Robotic Apple Harvester in the 2021 Season.
