Our History

Whether your family pet is your unbridled obsession or simply your best friend, Pet, Horse & Farm online or instore can help with everything from organic shampoos to home-baked biscuits and premium individually mixed horsefeeds.

Pet, Horse and Farm is the revamped animal feed store, formerly known as Essendon Produce, located opposite the DFO in Bulla Rd, Essendon Airport.

The expansion of the traditional hay and grain barn into an exciting retail outlet servicing the growing number of suburban pet owners will not have gone unnoticed among the company’s long-term customers. And now for first-time visitors to our website there’s plenty on offer through the convenience of Internet shopping.

According to proprietor, Jon van de Pol, the new name and new look for the long-established business was a direct response to the increasing demand from consumers looking for greater choice when it comes to pet care and animal supplies.

At Pet, Horse and Farm all your enquiries about animal health and nutrition will be investigated, whether instore or emailing us your concerns.

Donald van de Pol, with a diverse career background in finance and retail marketing, is a welcome addition to Pet, Horse and Farm. The two brothers are pleased to combine a little of the country in the heart of the city.

The van de Pol family has owned and operated Essendon Produce since its inception in Mt Alexander Rd, Essendon in 1965. As a drive through hay and grain store located next to the Royal Hotel, it was a popular outlet for everything from briquettes and hay bales to bird seed and chook food.

Henk van de Pol, father of Jon and Donald, was a traditional mill operator from Elst in the Netherlands who left a management position with a major milling corporation in North Melbourne to start his own business.

Nearly twenty years later, in 1982, Jon took over the business, which had been relocated to the Essendon railway station siding and in 1995 it moved to the Essendon Airport. And now we can boast a second store in Nagambie, the heart of Victoria's thoroughbred industry, which opened in 2008.