Our Story
Urban Valley was inspired in early 2021 by Joel, a hospitality veteran who had managed at some of Queensland's best restaurants including Wasabi, Arc, Yacht Club Hamilton Island and Qualia, and Rachel, who was working in fruit and veg distribution at Brisbane Markets in Rocklea, also with a hospitality background, as well as a masters degree in molecular genetics. After Covid, as many of us did at the time, they thought about doing something different and taking a more radical career move. As a fruit and veg supplier, Rachel heard the top chefs in Brisbane asking, "where's the good mushrooms?" That's because the mushrooms which have historically been available at the market have been the ones you're familiar with at the grocer - punnets wrapped in plastic, sweating, potentially old and almost always of imported origin. As the Brisbane dining scene had been growing rapidly over the very recent years, the demands for quality, unique, local produce also increased. So with extensive hospitality knowledge, passion for quality food, love of Brisbane's dining boom, experience in lab technique and perhaps a bit of that eccentric post Covid ambition, the concept for Urban Valley was born.
The great thing about farming gourmet mushrooms is that they're grown completely indoors in a controlled environment so you don't need land or sunshine or seasons. You could grow these mushrooms essentially anywhere in a vertical farming set up, on racks inside specialized coolrooms. The other convenient feature about farming these mushrooms is that they're wood loving and need to be grown in a sterile environment. That means there's no unpleasant smells from a compost based substrate, unlike button mushroom farming. With Joel and Rachel living in Fortitude Valley, they believed in the area and it was also where the nightlife and restaurants were thriving so if these gourmet mushrooms could be grown anywhere, why wouldn't the farm be based in the heart of it all? The Valley is also sadly home to many long empty properties, unused for years as they are boarded up and awaiting some future property development that never seems to come. Seeing such potential seemed like a waste of an activated area, however they were able to put one of those empty spaces to very good use as the home of Urban Valley, producing fresh mushrooms for chefs throughout Brisbane and greater south East Queensland. Being so local was important when Urban Valley was established because it also allows them to host tours through the farm, educate chefs or consumers and hold special events to interact with the community. Over the last couple years they've hosted a series of intimate chef's table dinners at the farm in which guests tour the facility and learn about how mushrooms are made before enjoying a menu curated in collaboration with a local restaurant. "I suppose at the end of the day we come from hospitality so it's in our nature to want to share what we do and educate the community about these delicious mushrooms" says Joel. "We want people to reimagine where a farm could be. It's such a cool feeling to see people's faces turn from disbelief to excited curiosity when we tell them that yes, there is an actual farm near Brunswick St Mall!"
We hope you enjoy and thank you for supporting local!
Rachel & Joel
Our Farm
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In the heart of Fortitude Valley
When you think Brunswick St Mall, you might think of anything else but farming, but we think of the delicious dining, the proximity to the chefs we'd be serving, and challenging ideas about what a farm can be. It gives us the ability to deliver to local restaurants on foot and give everyone access to local farm fresh produce!
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Organic and 100% Australian
We make the effort to grow on only Australian materials and use organic practices. Our substrate is made from sawdust byproduct from the forestry industry, our soy hulls (the outside of soybeans) comes from non-gmo farms in Toowoomba and our grain comes from Northern New South Wales. Because of this, our mushrooms are tested and clear of any chemical residues.
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Specialised Rooms
Our mushrooms are grown in specially built cool rooms which keep them in ideal growing conditions such as a cool temperature range, frequent air exchange and optimal humidity swing. We also have a lab on site where we work under sterile conditions, an incubation room where the mycelium grows, and a packing room for maintaining cold chain.
Freshcare Certified
Freshcare certification is a globally recognised voluntary pathway for growers to demonstrate and verify strict safety standards to customers across local and international markets as well as regulatory bodies. Freshcare certification is recognised in all Australian domestic market supply chains and certification is accepted by all major retail chains and approved by HARPS.