The history of canned vegetables in Australia is somewhat murky. In the book Technology in Australia 1788-1988, food scientist Keith Farrer wrote that “Vegetable canning in Australia was long delayed. It began with the Edgells of Bathurst, New South Wales…” But Edgell did not begin his canning operation until 1926 and vegetables were certainly being canned in this country more than three decades earlier.

Home preserving, often referred to as “canning” despite the use of glass jars, was already an established practice by the 1860s, particularly with tomatoes. Commercial canning came a little later, although imports from the USA were available from the 1870s. By 1888, the Balmain Observer was warning readers: “Do not leave any tomatoes in the bottom of a tin can, but pour them into an earthen bowl until you want them. This applies to nearly all canned vegetables.” An 1889 article expanded on the danger of canned goods, owing to the presence of lead in the solder used to close the cans.

Tomatoes were probably the first vegetables to be canned in this country – a natural extension of the thriving fruit canning industry. In 1889, the Red Cross Preserving Co. of Chapel Street, South Yarra, was advertising “canned tomatoes equal to the American and at the same price”. But it may have been the Mildura Fruit Preserving Company (MFPC) that first tackled canned vegetables on a larger scale.

The company was established by George Proudfoot in San Mateo Avenue, Mildura, Victoria, in 1892 primarily to produce canned fruits and jam. However, in 1892 the Proudfoot was appealing to local growers to supply vegetables including “beetroot, cauliflower, onions, gherkins, cucumbers, French beans, chillies, herbs, and such like” to sustain the canning operation over the off-season. Under the “Mallee” brand, the company exhibited a range of canned vegetables at the Intercolonial Food and Wine Exhibition of 1894.

In 1896, the Mildura Fruit Preserving Company was acquired by the biscuit makers Swallow & Ariell who continued to advertise the canned goods under their own brand.

The names of SWALLOW & ARIELL are known throughout Australia. Their canned Fruits and Jams, their Fresh canned Vegetables, their Preserved Tomatoes are earning a reputation simply through the merits of excellence, purity and price. On the Goldfields such articles are a necessity and truly a Godsend.

There were other manufacturers offering their own brands of canned vegetables well before 1926. Henry Leggo was producing canned tomatoes and fruits under the “Progress” brand by 1909 and Fred Walker, of Kraft cheese and Vegemite fame, was advertising his vegetable range under the “Red Feather” brand by 1919. It all makes Gordon Edgell rather a latecomer, despite Keith Farrer’s assertion that he was the first.