In a small suburb of the Gold Coast, a 6,500sqm farm is producing more than 400 tonnes of herbs and leafy greens each year.
This facility is a vertical farm, spanning 20 growing levels, a 2,126sqm workshop for future farm construction, 446sqm cold room and full research and development wing.
The farm can enable the full growth of a crop in as little as 16 days.
Despite its size and output, this farm only requires six employees.
That’s because it is the first fully automated indoor vertical farm, pioneered by Queensland-based tech firm Stacked Farm.
Using a range of innovations, the farm allows for the production of premium-quality leafy greens and herbs in climate-controlled environments across the whole year, with no use of pesticides, minimal water use and no human intervention from seed to pack.
Stacked Farm’s system combines advanced robotics, AI-driven software, precision climate control and custom infrastructure to make consistent, safe and sustainable food, and removing the variables associated with traditional farming, such as weather and manual labour.
“The idea was born from recognising that traditional farming faces increasing pressure from climate change, water scarcity and supply chain inefficiencies,” Stacked Farm co-founder Liz Tzvetkoff said.
“Our founders set out to reimagine food production by developing a scalable model that could deliver fresher, cleaner and more sustainable produce at scale.”
The pilot facility at the Gold Coast has now been fully operational for 18 months, and Stacked Farm is preparing to launch a site at Melbourne Airport which is six times larger.
Stacked Farm is a finalist in the InnovationAus 2025 Awards for Excellence in the Food and AgriTech category.
The InnovationAus 2025 Awards for Excellence winners and finalists will be celebrated at a black-tie gala dinner at Sydney Town Hall on Thursday, November 27. You can book your tickets here.
The Food and AgriTech category aims to celebrate innovations in value-add food production and AgriTech, covering the likes of high-tech sensor devices, farm-based robotics, plant-based meat and other protein products at scale
Stacked Farm recently inked a deal with large local restaurant chain Grill’d that has seen it developing a bespoke lettuce, with 70 burgers able to be made per kilo of the lettuce compared to 50 from the standard-off-the-shelf lettuce.
Stacked Farm has a mission to redefine fresh food supply chains, and has global ambitions.
“It’s an honour to be recognised among Australia’s leading innovators,” Tzvetkoff said.
“The nomination highlights the importance of sustainable food systems and validates our mission to redefine how fresh produce is grown and delivered.
“It’s also a proud moment for our team, whose work is setting new standards for agriculture and automation.”
The 2025 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence will be held on November 27 at the magnificent Sydney Town Hall. You can secure individual seats or book a table here. Purchase a table of 10 and have your logo displayed on screens across the venue and in the event programme as a ‘Table Sponsor’.
The InnovationAus 2025 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, 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.
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