"The farm has grown from a self-funded farming project to a prototype farming model which is currently competing directly with greenhouses rather than traditional vertical farms. We're not a vertical farm, we're a farm. Our customers don't care how we grow; they care about quality, consistency, and price," says Ty Dickson, Co-founder of April Sun Farms.
Darren Nichol and Ty Dickson
Co-founded by Ty Dickson and Darren Nichol, established its vertical farm in Melbourne in 2019. Self-funding their company inspired the founders' approach to solving problems. "The simplest solution is often the best," says Darren. Based on their backgrounds in construction, electronics, and the fresh produce markets, the founders designed and built their farm systems in-house. "For us, it's always been about survival and selling products," adds Ty. "That's why we're not just a vertical farm, we're something more, innovation often comes from necessity."
"When building a minimal CapEx, high functioning prototype, the result is often a less aesthetically pleasing development, compared to something in its final form." Ty continues, "But to us, this is what farming looks like. Our system works, we're producing efficiently, and our clients are happy. These foundational pillars are what matters."
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'POC is there, expansion here we come'
From the start, Ty and Darren kept busy maintaining a low investment by building their farm, from racks to techniques, bespoke hort-lighting, through to software. The current farm is 330 square meters, holding six to nine layers, and serves as a large-scale prototype. "We're expanding to 1,000 square meters and planning a bigger farm that exceeds nine layers," Ty explains.
"With two different systems deployed in this farm, our first-generation system allowed us to grow beautiful products. However, our expansion will include the upgraded system that has shown to increase crop density by 50% while using 33% less electricity in the same physical space," says Ty.
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Despite the higher investment cost, chefs prefer to have their produce delivered in pots so they can freshly cut it whenever they please
Continual and progressive development of their lighting system has significantly improved energy efficiency, from 96 watts per square meter to just 47 watts per square meter, while delivering more than 250 micromoles per m2 at the substrate level.
Using a mix of coir and perlite as substrate, adjusted for specific crops, the farm grows 24 crop varieties, including leafy greens, edible flowers, and 12 tomato varieties. In instances where the media is retained through freshly cut produce products, the team reuses the media, repurposing it for landscaping applications.
April Sun Farms operates primarily as a pre-wholesaler, selling produce below market prices to maintain competitiveness and ensure crop sales. "We've structured our business to be efficient, so we can compete directly with outdoor farms. If we supply the best-in-class products, at the most competitive price points, there is little sense in procuring from other farms," says Darren. During the COVID-19 period, this strategy helped them remain viable by focusing on pricing and quality. The farm's produce is sold through agents who distribute to wholesale markets, though direct-to-consumer sales are a long-term goal.
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The produce ready to be sent out
Low-cost production makes greenhouses the main competitor
Unlike many vertical farms, April Sun Farms sees its competition as greenhouse operations rather than traditional field farming. Australian greenhouse operators have faced challenges, like the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV), which wiped out some of the biggest operations.
Their system integrates biological pest control, energy-efficient lighting (4.04 micromoles per joule including power supplies), and efficient energy usage (66 cents per kilogram compared to 97 cents for local greenhouses producing small leafy greens). With electricity costs as low as 23 cents per kWh, April Sun Farms has been able to deploy low OpEx in the past years, which serves them 'lucky in this hurdle-rich market'. Yet, it made the founders realize that the ultimate goal is to develop scalable technology that can compete internationally. "If we can't scale across borders, we won't achieve what we're aiming for."
In the long run, we aim to develop a system that can compete with greenhouses, both in Australia and beyond," explains Darren.
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For more information:
April Sun Farms
Ty Dickson, Co-founder
Darren Nichol, Co-founder
[email protected]
https://aprilsunfarms.com.au