Queensland vertical-farming trailblazer Stacked Farm has taken out the Food & Agritech Award at the 2025 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence, unveiled at a black-tie gala dinner at Sydney Town Hall on Thursday night.
The Food & AgriTech finalists — Nourish Ingredients, PPB Technology and Van Diemens Land Creamery — highlighted the breadth of Australia’s AgriTech sector, spanning precision biomanufacturing, dairy innovation and food-safety.
Stacked Farm took top honours in the category sponsored by AgriFutures Australia for its fully automated indoor vertical farm capable of producing more than 400 tonnes of herbs and leafy greens annually with just six employees.
The first of its kind globally, the 6,500 square metre facility on the Gold Coast features 20 vertical growing levels with proprietary robotics, artificial intelligence-driven climate control and complete seed-to-pack automation.
The judging panel was particularly impressed by the company’s ability to eliminate the key vulnerabilities of traditional agriculture – climate volatility, water scarcity, labour shortages and supply chain disruption – while delivering consistent, premium produce year-round.
Stacked Farm is now scaling rapidly, with a Melbourne Airport facility underway that will be six times larger than the Gold Coast site. It has also recently inked a deal with local burger chain Grill’d to develop and supply a bespoke lettuce.
The 2025 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence are proudly supported by ACS, PEXA Group, the CSIRO ON Program, Griffith Hack, TechnologyOne, Q-CTRL, National AI Centre, University of New South Wales, KPMG, AgriFutures Australia, Investment NSW and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.