George Vourvahakis, Business owner

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Resident of Yarraville

Local business owner of Andrew’s of Yarraville

I’m 2nd generation Greek and Yarraville boy born and bred. My parents came here in late 60s for a better life, as there was no work in Greece. Back then, many of us came to Australia to escape the war or poverty in Europe.

Our family business started in 1982, with my Dad Emmanuel and his business partner Paul running the show. In 1989, Paul noticed we were working here all the time, and suggested to Emmanuel he will leave the business, letting us brothers take over.

We named the business Andrew’s, after my oldest brother as a sign of respect. Until today, a lot of people still think my name is Andrew; I am far too polite to correct them. Many of them have been calling me Andrew for years!

It was tough back then, with long hours and trying to make ends meet. Andrew decided to expand and introduce small goods, which took off really well. There was a market for good quality small goods. I now look after the retail aspect, while Andrew is focused on the small goods aspect in our factory in Laverton.

People really started noticing us when we won Australia’s Best Cheese Kransky in 1996. Since then we have won numerous national and state awards, including Boneless Leg Ham 2014 – 1st and Australian Porkmark Ham Awards 2016-2017 – 1st in Victoria.

Yarraville has changed so much; the demography used to be older people who settled here after the Second World War. I remember when one of the first coffee shops opened here about 30 years ago, I was thinking, “What are these people doing here? Opening a coffee shop?!” The older people who lived here used to say “We don’t want coffee.” Now, all I see are prams and young families.

The drawcard of Yarraville is definitely the Sun Theatre. That, along with the train station and bus depot. They are assets of this community for people who live further away. People can have every experience in Yarraville. Groceries, coffee or a movie. All in one place.

I love what I do every day. To me, this is not a job but a hobby. I wake up in the morning and look forward to my hobby, which just so happens to support my family.

We have worked hard as a family to achieve what we got. It wasn’t given to us and we do not take advantage of our name so we can slack. We still work harder today than we did in 1996 as it’s hard to get there, and even harder to stay there.

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