Community & Business
21 August, 2021
Fresh leaves every day for everyone
WITH A passion for farming, an infatuation with the Atherton Tablelands and a desire to achieve world domination in herb growing, Jan Vydra of Fresh Leaf farming has huge plans in the pipeline for his Wondecla hydroponic enterprise.
BY SALLY TURLEY
WITH A passion for farming, an infatuation with the Atherton Tablelands and a desire to achieve world domination in herb growing, Jan Vydra of Fresh Leaf farming has huge plans in the pipeline for his Wondecla hydroponic enterprise.
Mr Vydra had been selling his sustainably grown, Victorian farmed basil to Atherton Tableland businesses for several years and had already fallen in love with the area when those businesses closed down, creating a supply issue for the far north.
With his vision of giving customers "fresh leaves every day and everywhere," when the locally owned Clear Water Hydroponics nursery at Wondecla shut down, it seemed the natural thing for him to bring it back to life.
After taking over the facility in April 2018, he started growing his own basil there with help from current manager and previous owner, Steve Till, investing $2.8 million in upgrades including 4 new green houses.
Phase 1 of the project was completed on July 8 and a further $1 million will be spent during phase 2, commencing January next year, to develop the site's production capacity to 6 tonnes of basil per week, every week of the year. But Mr Vydra said not even 10 times current production would satisfy the growing market demand.
"The Wondecla nursery is currently producing $2 million worth of product annually, but we expect that to increase to $3-3.5 million per year once the project is completed. We also intend building a new packing facility on-site there sometime next year. From next March, we will also be working on a value adding project with our basil in conjunction with the Tablelands Regional Council and the James Cook University. We hope to establish an Australian pesto product using high quality basil off cuts normally wasted in the harvesting process. "Fresh Leaf" nationally is on track to turn over $20 million next financial year and we plan to establish bases in most Australian states during the next three years," Mr Vydra said.
Currently farming around 40,000 sqm of protected cropping, the 13 year old Melbournebased company employs a total of 148 staff across its three sites, 25 of whom work at Wondecla.
From 80 - 90% of those staff are Herberton locals, working in mainly permanent positions growing Asian vegetables, lettuce and a full range of herbs for local cafes and restaurants.
As one of the first facilities in Australia to incorporate Generation 3 technology into herb farming, Mr Vydra and Fresh Leaf co-founder William Pham have risen to become one of Australia's leading fresh garnishing companies, producing 25 varieties of herbs, micro greens and edible flowers.
Mr Vydra said 2008 was the perfect time to launch "Australian Fresh Leaf Herbs" as cooking shows like "Masterchef" and "My Kitchen Rules" had changed Australia's cooking culture and the herb industry was fragmented and unstructured, desperately needing consolidation.
"Consumer interest and the demand for fresh flavoursome products created an opportunity and we jumped on that wave, starting with a weekly consignment of 2000 bunches of basil. Through the combined use of Hydroponic, Flood and Drain and Vertical Farming, we are able to produce all year round," Mr Vydra said.
The former Nuffield scholar, who visited 20 countries around the world seeking knowledge about practices such as vertical cropping in a bid to "urbanise agriculture" is also passionate about lowering the average farming age by attracting more young people into agriculture.
Embracing emerging technology, "Fresh Leaf' farms have focused strongly on environmentally sustainable production.
Their basil crop uses approximately 10% of the water used in traditional field farming, 100% of their water is recycled and cultivation in greenhouses reduces the impact of insects, resulting in minimal use of insecticide.
Improved technology has enabled them to multiply plant density per square metre by several hundred per cent and the use of in-house climate control has protected and extended the life of their plants, creating better produce every day for their customers
