Canchones was established in 1998 with the purchase of two black females. The stud operated on a ten acres property on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria for the next 4 years as the quality and quantity of the herd improved. In 2002 the entire stud operations were relocated to a 160 hectare (400 acre) property at Taggerty in North East Victoria.

Canchones is owned and managed by Peter Kennedy and Robert Gane.

Robert has been involved with the Australian Alpaca Association (AAA) on a variety of levels. He has held positions at the regional and national levels, as well as being a director of the Australian Alpaca Co-operative.

He has developed and run marketing seminars for alpaca breeders in every region of the AAA as well as in the USA, New Zealand and England.

Peter spent three months in Peru in 2004, selecting alpacas for import to Australia. In the same year he successfully attended the International Alpaca Judging School (IAJS) in Peru as well as the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA) apprenticeship program. In 2006, Peter was certified as an alpaca judge in both Australia and the United States of America. He has since judged alpaca shows in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.

Between 1995 and 2002 Peter and Robert ran a strategic planning consultancy, supporting businesses in a wide variety of industries. With the purchase of the Taggerty property and the expansion of their alpaca business, the consulting business was wound back.

Peter's initial training was as a pharmacist, which was followed by a Diploma in Business Management. In 2001, Peter completed an MBA at the University of Melbourne Business School. Prior to his partnership in the strategic consultancy, Peter managed a number of large pharmacies with a particular emphasis on business growth.

Robert had broad business management experience prior to establishing the strategic planning consultancy. Managing director / general manager positions had been held in a variety of industries including, retail, insurance, banking and direct marketing.