The story of Pel-Freez began in 1911 with Herman Pelphrey and a small, home based, rabbit business in Inglewood, Calif. By 1918, the growing business needed a new processing plant, which was opened in Los Angeles. In 1936, Pelphrey's son, Dave, entered the rabbit business and shortly thereafter a partnership was formed. In 1937, Bob Dubbell married Dave's sister, Josephine, and also joined the business. In 1939, H.F. Pelphrey & Sons began to quick-freeze and package frozen rabbit meat for the first time in the industry, hence the origin of the company and trademarked name, Pel-Freez. Previously, all rabbit meat was fresh dressed and packed in ice.
With the start of World War II and the huge expansion of the defense industry in southern California, Pel-Freez expanded rapidly as rabbit meat was not rationed. In 1949, the U.S. Armed Forces started buying rabbit meat and shipping it all over this country and overseas for their mess halls. With a need to expand capacity to serve national markets, a decision was made to build a branch processing plant in Rogers, Ark.
Robert Dubbell moved his family to Rogers in 1951 and opened a new USDA-inspected processing facility in the former Rogers Canning Factory on Arkansas Street. Soon they were processing thousands of rabbits supplied by regional and small family farms. Robert (Bob) was instrumental in positioning Pel-Freez as one of the first U.S. suppliers of animal tissue and blood products for medical research and diagnostic uses. A new subsidiary company was formed, Pel-Freez Biologicals. One of their first products was used to determine if a heart patient had a blood clotting disorder. Another product was used in testing compatibility between the donor and recipient for a successful organ donor transplant.
In the mid 1950s, the Los Angeles plant was closed and Dave Pelphrey moved with his family, mother and father to Rogers.
In the early 1960s, Pel-Freez paid area farmers about 25 cents per pound for live rabbits. In 1963, according to G.H. Mills, assistant manager, the company expected to process 430,000 rabbits amounting to 1 million pounds of meat. David Pelphrey, production supervisor, said that they bought from 1,200 farmers, the biggest supplier, a farmer with 600 does. (Rogers Daily News, 10-4-63)
Under the leadership of Dave Pelphrey and Bob Dubbell, the Pel-Freez team expanded. The processing plant was remodeled several times, and the company acquired a vacant poultry processing plant also on Arkansas Street. The company continued to supply rabbit skins to the U.S. based fur trade, and began a line of novelty rabbit's foot key chains and other fur related novelty items.
In 1977, David Dubbell became president of Pel-Freez and was the third generation to provide continuous family management.
In 1979, David, and his brother Paul Dubbell, purchased the business as Dave Pelphrey and Bob Dubbell were reaching retirement. Soon thereafter, they split the fur and novelty operations from Pel-Freez and Paul formed Pel-Industries, still in business in Rogers as a supplier of custom sporting soft goods.
The biologicals division began to expand its technical skill set and the offering of antiserum biologicals by hiring a number of key technical and marketing personnel from Miles Research Laboratories.
The 1980s brought rapid growth for Pe1-Freez in Rogers and into other areas of the country. In 1982, Pel-Freez Clinical Systems was founded in Wisconsin, developing and marketing tissue typing test kits. By 1985, the Biologicals Division and the Clinical Systems Division accounted for more than 70% of the company's sales and employment.
In 1989, Pel-Freez started a new biotechnology company in Madison, Wis., called Novagen. The company provided products and services for scientists in the worldwide research community. The company grew into a major provider for biotechnology research and was sold in 1998 to the EM Merck Corporation in Germany. (Above data from several publications courtesy of David Dubbell, June 14, 2008)
In 2001, Pel-Freez opened a laboratory and manufacturing company in China and soon was the major supplier of tissue typing kits to Chinese transplant hospitals. In 2003, Pel-Freez sold its China operations, Pel-Freez Clinical Systems and Pel-Freez Biotechnology companies, to Dynal Biotech, a Norwegian company. As of 2008, both companies continued to offer tissue and typing products of the highest quality under the Pel-Freez trademark. (Data supplied by David Dubbell)
The Pel-Freez Company home based in Rogers was sold in March 2020 to a private investment partnership started by Dr. Brian Bonk, current Pel-Freez president and CEO. The following article from The Arkansas Development Commission website details the expansion and goals of this historic Rogers' company on their 110 year anniversary:
Pel-Freez Biologicals, a key supplier to the world's largest vaccine and diagnostic companies, today announced that it is expanding its facility in Rogers, Ark., creating 31 new jobs in the biotech industry.
"Due to Pel-Freez's unique position at the intersection of agriculture and the global life science supply chain, there are many reasons why Northwest Arkansas is an ideal location to continue to grow our company," said Pel-Freez President and CEO Dr. Brian Bonk.
Pel-Freez began as a backyard rabbit farm in 1911 and entered the biological business in the 1950s to meet the growing needs of researchers. The company produces high-quality raw materials and intermediates for biological research, including serums, plasma, blood fractions, tissues, and antibodies from a variety of species. They are the only large-scale producer of U.S.-origin rabbit serum and plasma, as well as several other specialized life science reagents used in the diagnostic and vaccine industry.
"Pel-Freez is a unique company in the global life science supply chain, and it has been great to watch this homegrown company make new strides in the industry," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.
Today, the company provides critical biological materials for over 1,000 customers annually in over 40 countries. Customers include some of the nation's most well-known research institutions as well as several Fortune 500 pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies.
"I am proud of the continued impact of Pel-Freez in our local economy and as it reaches further," Rogers Mayor Greg Hines said. "This company has provided employment for countless Rogers residents over 110 years of operation. It is an honor to have this resilient, adaptable leader in biological business keeping residence in our backyard."
This year marks Pel-Freez's 110-year anniversary. To commemorate the milestone, the Rogers Historical Museum is hosting an exhibit honoring the company. (The Arkansas Development Commission website, 10/19/2021)
In recent years, the company has dealt with various struggles and setbacks. In 2007, many producers were forced out of business due to rising rabbit food costs. The increase was due to higher corn prices as the corn supply was diverted from animal feed in order to make ethanol, a gasoline additive. Also, animal welfare groups targeted Pel-Freez for animal cruelty in their slaughtering procedures. A suit was brought in 2015, but was dropped because the law did not cover rabbits. However, this caused the company to refine their procedures to be more humane.
Pel-Freez is America's oldest and largest producer of domestic rabbit meat. The delicious, healthy rabbit meat has the highest amount of protein, the lowest percentage of fat, and the lowest calories per pound than chicken, veal, turkey, lamb, beef, or pork. The covid-19 pandemic caused rabbit meat sales to decline, so Dr. Bonk took the opportunity to rebrand the food sales division under a new name, Natural State Rabbit, in order to gain a more modern presence in grocery stores. The company also added a local outlet at their facility on Arkansas Street offering rabbit meat to the public. (Data from the Rogers Historical Museum exhibit, "Pel-Freez: 110 Years in Food and Science")
It is sad that Pel-Freez is no longer owned by the Pelphrey and Dubbell family that founded and ran the company for 109 years, but it is reassuring to know that it will continue to operate and expand from its home base in Rogers with the able leadership of Dr. Bonk and his staff for many years to come.
James F. Hales is an author and local historian. His column appears monthly. Email him at [email protected].
