TEKWOMEN Female Founder Series: Jess Uhlig

Growing Business the Sustainable Way

Jess Uhlig’s story begins far from the paddocks she now walks. Her career started in tourism and hospitality; welcoming travellers to the tropics of Port Douglas, working in bustling restaurants, and earning a Bachelor of Tourism Management while promoting reef operators and local experiences.  But after two years travelling around Australia - living simply out of a caravan, counting every drop of water and watt of power Jess returned home with new eyes. The contrast was stark. Back in restaurant kitchens, she was confronted by waste on an industrial scale: lights left on, food binned by the kilo and no recycling in sight.

What began as one woman’s mission to make a restaurant more sustainable soon grew into something much larger. In 2020, Jess founded Green Food Australia, Jess’s company using food waste to restore soils, strengthen regional economies and improve human health. Her work sits at the intersection of science, circularity and compassion. She believes that healthy soil means healthy food, and healthy food means healthy people.Jess called in from tropical Port Douglas, her background a blur of green palms, while I joined from the Bay Islands. Our conversation flowed easily, winding from her early days in tourism to her passion for soil, technology and reimagining how Australia grows its food.

Anna: Jess, can you tell me a bit about your journey? How did Green Food Australia begin?

Jess: My background was always in tourism and hospitality. I’ve spent most of my life working in restaurants and marketing for reef operators up here in Far North Queensland. I love food, I married a chef, and I’ve always been drawn to people and place.

In 2019, after travelling around Australia and living really frugally, I came back to Port Douglas to help with our property after floods. I picked up work back at the restaurant and was gobsmacked by the waste, power, food, packaging, everything. We implemented recycling, solar panels and LED lights, but the one thing I couldn’t solve was food waste. That’s where it all began. During the COVID lockdowns I discovered a commercial machine that could turn food waste into a soil product. I spent months researching soil health and was hooked. By the end of 2020, I’d founded Green Food Australia.

Anna: What’s the mission behind Green Food Australia?

Jess: At its heart, we’re trying to heal the planet through soil. Our soils are the foundation of everything, our food, our health, our climate. Yet globally, they’re rapidly degrading. If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide and methane after the US and China. By processing organic waste back into the soil, we’re closing the loop. Healthier soil produces healthier food, which means healthier humans. It’s simple, but powerful.

Anna: You’ve developed two flagship products. Can you explain what they are?

Jess: The first is XLR8®Bio, a biofertiliser and soil probiotic. It stimulates the native biology already in the soil rather than introducing new organisms that struggle to survive. Farmers using it can gradually reduce pesticides and fertiliser inputs, and in time, many can stop using synthetics altogether. The second is HumiSoil®, a rich, accelerated compost that continues to ferment once applied. It builds humus, the organic matter that gives soil life and structure, and restores carbon content that’s been lost through tilling and chemical use.

When used together, the two products create a living soil system that sustains itself naturally.

Anna: You mentioned that synthetic fertilisers destroy soil health. Can you share some of the data behind that?

Jess: Absolutely. When you apply synthetic fertilisers, you’re cutting the microbial life in the soil from around 91% to just 19% almost instantly. The soil loses its ability to breathe, absorb nutrients, and regenerate. It’s like giving plants a sugar hit, they shoot up fast, but the ground beneath them dies a little more each season. And we’re already seeing the ripple effect through the food chain. Studies show that many fruits and vegetables have lost significant amounts of key micronutrients like calcium, iron, copper and zinc.

Anna: That’s a staggering figure. So, improving soil isn’t just about farming, it’s about human health too.

Jess: Exactly. Everything connects back to soil. When our soil biology collapses, we lose nutrient density in our food, which leads to poor human health. We then rely on supplements to make up the gap. It’s madness really, we’re spending billions on tablets when we could be investing in the ground that grows our food. The other big impact is on people who work with chemicals every day. Reducing pesticide use means protecting farm workers from exposure to strong, toxic sprays. It’s about looking after everyone in the system, the grower, the consumer and the environment.

Anna: How are farmers responding to your approach?

Jess: It’s been a mix of discovery and collaboration. Early on, I met amazing smallholders like Jim Carey, who said, “I’ve been farming for 50 years, and I’ve been doing it wrong the whole time.” Then I started working with larger operations like Lorraine Stopford from Rocky Creek Orchards, who’s exporting produce internationally and leading with sustainability.

And more recently, one of Australia’s biggest banana growers contacted me directly, saying, “I need to build my soil health for my plant health and my human health.” That’s the shift, big commercial players are realising that good soil equals good business.

Anna: You’ve spoken a lot about creating circular systems. What’s your long-term vision for Green Food Australia?

Jess: My dream is to create regional circular economies where all organic waste is processed locally and returned to farms. Nothing should go to landfill. Every region could have its own facility turning food scraps, green waste and agricultural by-products into soil-enriching material. If we do that, we solve two problems at once, waste and soil degradation. Eventually, soil health won’t be a crisis we talk about, it’ll just be part of how we live.

Anna: You’ve also mentioned wanting to develop a household system for food waste. Tell me more about that.

Jess: Yes! I want every household in Australia to have an affordable, in-kitchen composting unit that processes food scraps overnight, even meat and shells, and turns them into something usable. Current systems on the market are around $800 or $900, which makes them inaccessible for most families. My goal is to create something subsidised by the government, so it’s a norm in every home. The biggest impact we can make is at the source. If we stop food waste at household level, the carbon savings are enormous.

Anna: And your work extends globally through your partnership with VRM Biologik. What kind of results are you seeing?

Jess: VRM Biologik is the global biotech company we’re licensed under, and their projects are nothing short of inspiring. In one case, they filtered wastewater from a dairy farm and used it, with XLR8®Bio and HumiSoil®, to grow ancient grains in the desert, crops that hadn’t been cultivated in 3,000 years. They’ve even grown pumpkins, strawberries and watermelons in 100% sand. It proves what’s possible when we rebuild soil life. Countries facing food insecurity are now able to grow their own food again. That’s the scale of change we can achieve.

Anna: That’s incredible. What’s next for Green Food Australia?

Jess: We’re working towards releasing a pelletised version of HumiSoil® next year. It’ll make application easier for large-scale farms and reduce storage challenges. We also want to expand our services, helping farms process their own organic waste on-site, turning rotting hay, excess fruit or even livestock losses into something valuable again.

Everything we do is built on partnership. Every farm is different, and every farmer deserves solutions that work for their unique context.

Anna: Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring founders who want to make an impact?

Jess: Just start. Don’t wait until you have all the answers, you never will. Connect with people, find mentors, ask questions, and be prepared to pivot. I went from hospitality to agriculture and waste management, two industries I knew nothing about, but passion is what carries you through. And don’t listen too much to the naysayers. Build a plan, even if it changes. The hardest part is taking the first step.

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Closing reflections

Our conversation left me inspired by Jess’s conviction that real change begins beneath our feet. Green Food Australia is more than a company; it’s a movement to reconnect people with the planet, one handful of healthy soil at a time. Jess’s story reminds us that hope is an action. It’s composted in small decisions, nourished by innovation, and grown through the courage to care.

To connect with Jess and learn more about Green Food Australia, visit greenfoodaustralia.com.au, call 0467 667 000, or email info@greenfoodaustralia.com.au. If Jess doesn’t answer straight away, please text or leave a voicemail, she’s probably out on a farm helping someone heal their soil.