Sunshine Coast The Farm Gym to open vege garden for fitness members

The owner of a popular Sunshine Coast gym is taking business growth to a new level with what could be a world-first concept.

A Sunshine Coast fitness brand says it’s investing up to $15,000 to build a giant vegetable garden to become the world’s first gym to feed its members.

The Farm Gym launched in 2017 at Mapleton Rd, Burnside, as a unique gym on a 16ha farm with fitness training, an outdoor obstacle course, and a small garden.

Owner Luke Harvison said they would soon have a two-acre vegetable garden where members could purchase food for themselves and their families.

“We’ll replace the necessity for having to go to Coles each week,” he said.

The Farm Gym owner Luke Harvison. Picture: supplied.

Mr Harvison, who already has tractors and other basic equipment, said he was investing between $10,000 to $15,000 for the project, which should be ready as a “sustainable weekly option” by next winter.

He said he expected the concept to increase his company’s revenue by 25 to 30 per cent.

Mr Harvison said he wanted to have the world’s first gym to feed its members, in a bid to further support his members’ nutritional health and mental and physical wellbeing.

Members of The Farm Gym. Picture: Asa Andersen.

“We’ve been waiting to do this since we started,” he said.

Once the garden is ready, Hr Harvison said his members will be able to purchase mostly green vegetables.

Mr Harvison, who runs the company with wife Acacia, said his fitness facility already sold honey and olive oil made from local suppliers, and bananas and avocado, which he produced on his farm.

Members of The Farm Gym. Picture: Asa Andersen.

The new project comes off the back of the business’s successes post-pandemic.

Sales spiked 30 per cent in its last financial year as members increased with people wanting to bond and socialise after feeling disconnected during Covid-19.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast The Farm Gym to open vege garden for fitness members