May 21, 2021
It’s rare to see a company attempting to create an entirely new category of products, let alone one that, if successful, will have long-lasting effects on both a local community and a fast-growing Australian industry.
But that’s exactly what is happening at a farm at Eden Lassie, in Queensland’s tropical dry north, where ASX-listed Top Shelf International has planted hundreds of thousands of agave plants.
The multi-brand spirits company is planning to turn those plants into an Australian agave spirit, the likes of which does not yet exist.
While tequila drinkers will be familiar with the kind of alcohol that can be made from the agave plant, no one has distilled such a spirit on this scale in Australia.
May 21, 2021
Australian spirits maker Top Shelf International is quietly building a formidable ecosystem of small businesses to help it build its first-of-its-kind Australian agave plantation and distillery in dry tropical north Queensland.
The ASX-listed company has unveiled bold plans to create Australia’s first agave spirit at scale, and co-founder and chief executive Drew Fairchild tells
SmartCompany a network of smaller businesses are helping it realise its vision.
From local plant nursery, Bowen Quality Seeds and architecture firm Gordon Gould Ipson, to agronomy specialists Prospect Agriculture and renewable energy firm H2 Energy Company, Top Shelf is working with numerous smaller businesses at each point along the production process.
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A Mackay-based architect has landed a dream job and client, developing plans for Top Shelf International’s agave farm experience south of Bowen.
Gordon Gould Ipson Architects director Paul Ipson said the opportunity to design the distillery showroom, restaurant and visitor information centre at Eden Lassie was a “once in a 25-year opportunity”, and a boon for regional skill sets.
“This is a dream for every architect to be involved from this stage, and something that is going to be game-changing and developing a whole new industry, let alone a product from a tourist perspective,” Mr Ipson said.