Andrew | D&R Stockfeeds
“Our business, D&R Stockfeeds, was originally started in 1927, in Concord, Sydney. My father bought the business from Doust and Rabbidge (original owners), and moved it to Camden. We continue the tradition of D&R being 100% family owned and run – hopefully one day my kids will be working here and keeping the family business thriving!”
Meet Andrew, owner and general manager at D&R Stockfeeds. He has been working in the family business since he was 19 years old, providing the local area with the best range of horse supplies.
His customers are mainly horse enthusiasts, ranging from ‘racing to pleasure to the old pony in the paddock pet.’
With constant developments in the Sydney region, the traditional horse-focused D&R landscape is changing, and the store has been branching out into stocking rural fencing supplies and products for companion
animals such as dogs and cats.
This adaptive culture is a major part of a family-owned business that focuses on putting their customers first – in fact, Andrew’s favourite part of the job is to meet customers on their premises to discuss all their needs and how he can help them!
His commitment ties back into the values of D&R Stockfeed – to help their customers grow their operations and improve animal welfare.
Though working with rural customers can be challenging at times, with droughts, fires and floods becoming more frequent, Andrew says “the key to success in his business is having a great team that I can trust and rely on.”
D&R started stocking csg products around 3 years ago, and have had great feedback from their customers.
“Mark and the team are great to deal with, and deliver fantastic service. Our customers now only ask for csg when buying straight grains!”
Supply and fuel levies are the hardest challenges Andrew and the team at D&R are facing. These challenges have been a struggle nationwide since covid, affecting all retail and rural stores and driving up prices as financial conditions tighten across Australia.
There is opportunity in the stockfeed industry for suppliers to work more closely with customers to identify their needs. This is something Andrew and his team do well, but it seems to be a fairly untouched area in the wholesale stockfeed market. csg’s myCowra program aims to fill the gap, offering rewards and marketing support to resellers that can be shared with staff and customers.
