Stacked for success – the Gold Coast farm that’s using AI to grow more sustainable, nutritious and reliable produce
The Arundel-based business Stacked Farm has taken on the challenges facing farming today by producing tonnes upon tonnes of fresh produce every week – all without human intervention.
If you’ve been a patron at a Grill’d restaurant over the last year, you’ve likely already enjoyed the Stacked Farm cos lettuce – grown by robots from seed to pack.
“The feedback we get on the taste is that the taste is exceptional,” shares Stacked Farm COO Sam Canavan. “If it did not taste good, then we’d be dead on arrival.”
Stacked Farm started as a hobby farm before evolving into a fully-automated 13-metre-high indoor farm in the north-west of the Gold Coast.
The region’s agricultural industry has confronted major challenges in recent years. With seasonal changes decreasing farm profitability by up to 25 percent, there’s been a growing need for new-wave farming approaches that can combat unpredictable environmental conditions.
Stacked Farm’s Chief Operating Officer, Sam Canavan
“It was the complexity of the problem to solve [that] was really enticing,” explains Sam.
“Farmable land is reducing across the board, and the other [issue] is that farming is really tough. We know the sort of mental health issues, and we know by extension that it’s becoming a harder and harder sell for younger generations who inherit farms.”
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“[We] understand how fresh produce works in Australia and how supply chains work, and kind of the issues that a lot of these big retailers or big quick-service restaurants were having with produce around climate change and varying weather conditions.”
The Gold Coast offered a compelling and convenient location to launch this venture.
“[Our] view was that it was just easier to do business in this part of Australia,” adds Sam. “Things like the cost of leases and cost of commercial real estate, was really competitive compared to other parts of Australia.”
“… Also that long term, being based on the Gold Coast would help stacks with talent acquisition and retention as well.”
“And that’s certainly what’s proven to be the case. We have a reasonable percentage of our team who are from overseas … from different parts of Europe and North America, who we’ve we’ve compelled on visas to come down to the Gold Coast,”
“That’s been a really big selling tool – the idea of the sun, the sand, the surf and the laidback lifestyle.”
It was the Gold Coast location that helped convert Sam, who came to Stacked Farm from Class Pass’ Singapore office where he worked as Asia-Pacific managing director.
“The thing that impressed me most about being back here is the fact that … the people are more laid back and the pace of life is slower. I think that is a huge positive for businesses here,” says Sam. “That’s probably quite a contrarian view.”
“My firm view is that any work after 50 hours a week, you just get huge diminishing returns by output. And I think you get huge diminishing returns on happiness and engagement.”
“I love the fact that the Gold Coast is not set up with that sort of environment.”
Stacked Farm has a team of around 50 staff, with around 80 percent in the automation and engineering side of the business.
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The multi-storey vertical farm currently produces tonnes and tonnes of fresh produce (such as leafy greens and herbs) every single week, supplying an array of local restaurants and chains.
The Arundel facility is also home to 12 research and development rooms where the Stacked Farm team can work to tailor products through environmental modifications.
“One of the biggest advantages of vertical farming is you are not at all at the behest of disease or weather events.”
Efficiently managed by robotics, Stacked Farm has decreased labour needs in comparison to the traditional farm. With no humans touching the produce, Stacked doesn’t use any pesticides or herbicides.
Beyond the taste, Stacked Farm produce outperforms traditionally farmed produce, doubling the nine-day standard shelf life to an approved 18-days. It’s also reported to have a higher nutritional value as well.
“Based on testing that we’ve done independently, the nutritional value of what we produce is up to three times higher than you would get in traditional farming as well…”
Built with future-proofing in mind, Stacked Farm is UNCG-certified and strives to limit the high depletion of resources usually associated with farming.
“Stacked Farm has built a proprietary in-house system of basically reusing water, where 99% of the water that is used in the farm is recirculated and treated and comes back into the farm.”
Named the third most innovative business in Australia by the Australian Financial Review, Stacked Farm is focused on upscaling with its product expected to hit grocery shelves in the next few months.
“We’re constrained by the size of the site,” explains Sam. “The sort of champagne problem we have at the moment is we have too much demand for the supply than we can currently get out of this farm.”
“We need to make more farms to give more customers a chance to give Stacked Farm products a chance.”
“It’s a good problem to have,” jokes Sam.
Find out more about the City of Gold Coast business support and attraction programs, including the upcoming Business Week, here.
