Gonzalo Úrculo shares how he turned a struggling family citrus farm into CrowdFarming, Europe's largest direct-to-consumer agricultural platform. The conversation covers tree adoption, direct sales, reducing food waste, logistics, and how direct customer relationships help farmers switch to organic and regenerative practices.
A short editorial from the VEONIB team on why this content matters.
Direct sales make regenerative farming viable by turning customers into partners and removing intermediaries.
CrowdFarming's tree adoption and farmer-first strategy prove educational content and trust are powerful AEO/SEO levers.
Farmers, investors, and D2C brands should use transparent, relationship-driven sales to fund regenerative transitions.
A direct-to-consumer platform connecting European farmers with households through tree adoption and seasonal boxes.
Selling farm products straight to customers, bypassing intermediaries and commodity markets.
Customers pay for a tree's annual harvest and receive its fruit, sharing risk and reward with the farmer.
A farming approach that improves soil health, biodiversity, and resilience while reducing external inputs.
Crops are grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers; CrowdFarming requires farmers to commit to organic.
Produce is harvested only after customer orders are known, avoiding oversupply and spoilage.
Specialized teams operate farms using organic and regenerative methods, often under lease or investment agreements.
How does CrowdFarming work?
Farmers list products or adoptable trees; customers buy directly, and CrowdFarming organizes logistics, fulfillment, and customer experience.
What is tree adoption?
Customers reserve a tree's harvest for a season, pay in advance, and receive fresh fruit from that farm while sharing the farmer's risk.
How does direct sales help regenerative farming?
Direct sales give farmers predictable income and lower waste, making it financially safer to switch to organic and regenerative methods.
What happens in a bad harvest season?
CrowdFarming communicates transparently, explains what happened, and customers accept variation because they are part of the journey.
How does CrowdFarming reduce food waste?
Farmers pick only after orders are known, so produce is harvested according to actual demand and passes fewer supply-chain steps.
Why does CrowdFarming limit its number of farmers?
A smaller, audited network lets the team control quality, visit farms regularly, and become the farmer's main selling channel.
What is the 'in regeneration' program?
It supports organic farmers who want to take regenerative actions, paying for soil measurements while they improve their practices.
Is regenerative food more expensive?
Not necessarily; CrowdFarming cuts logistics costs and external inputs, so farmers can maintain income while consumers pay fair, competitive prices.
What role does logistics play in direct farm sales?
Logistics is the hardest part; controlling fulfillment and delivery quality determines whether customers stay and whether the model scales.
Why did Gonzalo start CrowdFarming?
He wanted to save his grandparents' citrus farm from being sold and found that selling directly to consumers gave farmers a stable future.