Vertical farm looks for seed capital to take off
A Gold Coast vertical farm company is after $10 million in backing to expand a business that skirts around the current labour shortage and the weather impacts from climate change.
Stacked Farm has started developing a new $13 million vertical farm at Arundel, on the Gold Coast, which will be 10 times the size of its existing facility.
While vertical farms are common in Asia, the industry is relatively new in Australia however smaller modular farms are already being used by restaurants.
Stacked Farm chief executive Conrad Smith said the public was also concerned about global climate change issues in traditional farming and the fully-automated āurban farmingā was more important than ever in securing an uninterrupted food supply.
The company said the new $13 million facility on the Gold Coast would be fully operational early next year with a 4000 square metre footprint.
āVertical farming is the future as there is more concern than ever around who is handling your food, where itās coming from and how many stops it has made before arriving on supermarket shelves,ā said.
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āDemand is such that supply contracts are in place with Morco Fresh, with a number more currently being finalised.
āThe farm is commercially viable, scalable and competitive,ā he said.
Smith said vertical farming used 95 per cent less water than traditional farming, considerably less space and was able to produce a crop about three times faster. A crop can go from seed to harvest in three weeks. It also cuts out the need to wash produce after harvest.
āRight now we are seeing a major spike in interest due to ensuring control over food security, food quality and food safety,ā Smith said.
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āOne of the big draw cards is that from seed to packaging itās fully automated and not once touched by the hand.
āIt also alleviates supply shortages or gluts, highlighted during the pandemic.
āCompared with traditional farming we turn around a crop in a much shorter amount of time. It is also possible to quickly pivot supply to meet the demands of the market.ā
One of the big upgrades in the past 12 months has been delivering the same output while significantly drawing less energy, which is central to its skyrocketing commercial viability.
āWe take sustainability very seriously and will be only using renewable biogas to power the farm,ā he said.
āWater is always going to be an issue in Australia ā itās our most valuable commodity. Efficient water usage is just one of the sustainable aspects that makes this operation appealing to food wholesalers in Australia.
āItās great for growing in the city, as we can deliver within kilometres of the produce being grown.ā
Stacked Farm has expanded its partnership with Morco Fresh, which supplies supermarkets, airline carriers, mining contractors, restaurants, hotels and pubs across the country offering reliability to deliver produce to businesses with complex supply chains.
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