happiness was this
how many times have you wondered where the food you buy comes from ? Would you like it eat local food and be able to have one closer relationship with the environment where are they grown? Actively support the work of farmers who work with principles of sustainability It was never as easy as now.
crowdfarming is an initiative of two brothers from Madrid who opted for a different business model, away from the intermediaries that often squeeze the profitability of the work of small farmers.
The concept is simple: the farmer sells directly to the final consumer, without intermediaries . As a consumer, you can sponsor an olive tree or an orange tree , even buy pistachios, or ask you for a box of tangerines, for example. Food is available seasonally.
“Since 2000, with the entry of Spain into the euro the prices in the field were getting lower and lower . I decided to quit my job, my brother too, and we became in orange farmers and we recovered the orchard of the grandfather that was semi-abandoned. And because of that, we created a new sales channel . We knew that the model create a product and sell it through intermediaries was exhausted, and we knew that the future, in order to live from agriculture, was to create our own channel and since we liked the topic of organic farming, all the more reason... we wanted to involve the consumer in all our agricultural decisions ”, he comments to Traveler.es Gonzalo Urculo.
Founding his agricultural company, ** Naranjas del Carmen **, and the challenges associated with this initiative, was what allowed him and his brother Gabriel to have the idea to create crowdfarming , which roughly, its founders describe as an independent software company , which allows producers from anywhere in the world to establish their sales channel. The team is made up of Urculo brothers , the French Juliette Simonin Y The Venezuelan Moises Calviño.
Consumer and producer shake hands. Without intermediaries.
With this system, in addition to know exactly where food comes from -many estates and farms allow visits by appointment- and in what conditions have they been grown , it is also possible interact with farmers during the process.
At the same time, it is a system that allows the farmer to plan his crops . “When you buy food, you don't decide anything about the food you eat, only if you want to buy it or not; the consumer today only participates in the last moment of the supply chain and the idea of the CrowdFarming is involving the consumer in the food production phase Gonzalo says.
SPONSOR A TREE
In the case of sponsor the trees , the adoption commitment covers a harvest, which is delivered to the address of the person indicated when formalizing the adoption. After it, there is no obligation to stay and deciding whether to renew or not is in the hands of the client. Some producers also offer the option to buy product directly, without the need to sponsor a tree.
Guillermo and Laura are two of the producers who participate in CrowdFarming with their project ** Los Aires **. From his estate of centuries-old olive trees, located in Arcicollar, in Toledo, they produce organic extra virgin olive oil and also offer oil tourism experiences.
“In 2011 we recovered my family's centenary olive trees, we began to work them organically, and in 2014 it was the first year that we made oil , mainly looking for a fair price at the origin. My partner Laura has been training in how to make quality oil , and we have revolutionized the way harvest olive to make a rich, highly aromatic oil. Since three years ago we pick the olive in october, green e, when you pick healthy fruit and at the optimum quality moment”, explains Guillermo.
This is the first harvest that they will sell through CrowdFarming. “ It is a platform very close to the final consumer , and for us, as small farmers, making our product known to the consumer requires a lot of work. So, they directly present our project, and thanks also to the large volume of people who see it, we reach a lot of people”, says Guillermo, who is excited about this closeness with consumers.
“The way to sponsor gives you stability as a producer In addition, the consumer is very grateful, people write you emails, call you... You go to a fair, sell your bottle and the relationship ends there. However, in this way, the consumer has a very strong closeness to what he is eating … then both parties win a lot”, concludes Guillermo.
Woman in the field picking vegetables
Gonzalo explains how the idea for the platform was born. “My brother and I had the problem that we had to plant trees , but we don't know how many trees we were going to be able to sell. Decisions in agriculture are long-term: you plant an orange tree today, but it won't bear fruit for another four or five years... and we couldn't afford it financially. Also, We also didn't want to have a surplus harvest that we wouldn't know how to sell later. Instead of selling oranges, what we did was sponsorship of orange trees . It has turned out to be a very romantic term, but before that, It is a very interesting topic agronomically. , because it allows you to cultivate knowing that what that tree produces is sold and that, as a farmer, is priceless”.
In addition to Spanish producers, on the platform you can also find products from farmers from France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Philippines and Colombia and the project continues to grow.
Back to earth, bet on it