1. Building an attractive agri-food sector:
   The vision emphasises encouraging current and future generations to see farming as an appealing profession, with fair income, public support, and transparency.
   
   

• We are already 298 farmers: 45 new producers started direct sales through CrowdFarming in 2024, and 88% of existing farmers renewed their contracts.
• 62.2% of farmers reported an increase in income, and over 70% reinvested in improvements on their farms.
• 40% of CrowdFarming farmers are under 40 years old, compared to the EU average of 12%.
  
  

2. Fostering a competitive, resilient and future-ready sector: The European Commission stresses the need to support its climate goals, help farmers measure and improve their farm-level performance, and protect and restore biodiversity.
   
   

• Of the 10,500 tonnes of food shipped (28% more than last year), over 80% were certified organic, helping avoid the use of 3 tonnes of synthetic pesticides.
•  To improve resilience, our Regenerative Agriculture Programme has expanded to include 58 farms regenerating 4,000 hectares across 5 countries.
•  The first 12 farms in our regenerative programme have shown an average 25% improvement in ecosystem health indicators (soil, water, and biodiversity).
  
  

3. Focusing on fair food, living and working conditions in rural areas: One of the objectives is to strengthen the connection between citizens and rural areas while maintaining global leadership in food innovation.
   
   

•  Our community grew by 40% last year, with 483,348 households receiving products directly from farmers.
• We ended the year with 287,382 adoptions and 36,948 subscriptions to the monthly mixed fruit box.
• Our Soil Society now includes 3,000 members who help us decide how to invest our regenerative agriculture budget.
  
  

With each household that chooses to receive its food directly from a farmer, we are proving that a fairer and more sustainable food system is not only possible — it’s already taking shape.

In the farmer survey we ask them a series of questions based on specific topics, namely sales channels, economic stability, agricultural sector challenges, climate conditions, farm costs, farm innovation and improvements, and the transition to organic and regenerative agriculture. 

The survey is quite extensive and detailed, so we send them a letter with a summary of the key results. Then we thought, why not also share this letter with you?

Hello, farmers!

We’d like to start by thanking the 146 of you who took part in this year’s survey.

You represent more than 50% of the CrowdFarming farmer community and, thanks to you, we’re learning and making improvements together. The results of the survey show us that your comments aren’t falling on deaf ears. In fact, results are already being seen!

The NPS (Net Promoter Score) has gone up from 37 (last year) to 44 (this year). This indicator reflects the degree to which you’d recommend the platform to other farmers, and the increase shows that more and more of you are satisfied with the experience. This is a shared achievement: you’re an essential part of the definition of CrowdFarming that we all want, and your feedback helps us improve year after year. 

The farmers most satisfied with CrowdFarming are Spanish (51), then Italian (46), closely followed by French (45), and finally German-speaking ones (36). 75% of you say that CrowdFarming has met your expectations, and 11% that it even exceeds them.

“Proud to belong to the CrowdFarming family, part of a movement that is making things happen. Committed to what really matters: leaving a good and healthy foundation for future generations. Living soils, a healthy environment, sustainability, and fair pay”.

“I love it, but I can’t be objective because I’m a fan. I see it as a movement rather than a sales channel. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been aware of organic farming and known that it’s the only option for me, but I discovered regenerative farming thanks to you, and I’ll be eternally grateful for that”. 

1. Price stability, less uncertainty, and higher income

60% of you see prices on CrowdFarming more stable than via other channels (up from 40% in 2023), and less than 3% see them as more unstable. Considering that for 45% of you price volatility is one of the issues that most concerns you, we’re happy to see that the stability provided by CrowdFarming is on the up.

“The stable price and the almost guaranteed sale of a significant percentage of my production gives me so much peace of mind”.

However, we shouldn’t forget that more than 85% of you reported that your expenses are also increasing, mainly those derived from energy and fuel, consumables, and labour.  

We’re happy to see that 62.2% of you have seen an increase in income, and more than 70% have invested in improvements since working with us, whether in new machinery, better facilities, or new recruits. We’re confident that the growth in your income isn’t just impacting your business, but also your community, through job offers, competitive salaries, and the development of economic, social, and cultural activity in your area.

2. Maintaining your characteristic quality

We know how much effort you channel into producing quality food and how important it is for the end consumer to value your work. We understand that being answerable for your product is an extra effort, but we believe that making your role as a producer visible is key to building a fairer food chain, where your work takes the place it deserves.

Much of what we do at CrowdFarming is geared towards making it easier for you to sell directly to the end consumer. More than half of you believe that our service-price ratio is the best, and only 8.4% prefer other channels. Even so, we know we have room for improvement and we continue to strive to be your favourite channel in 100% of cases.

Some of the points you asked us to improve include logistics (20%), visibility of your products (20%), and financial processes (13.5%). Throughout 2024, we developed technological improvements to streamline these processes, reduce time, and offer you tools that make direct selling more efficient. Besides these in-house improvements, you’ll soon get to enjoy new updates to the Farmer Zone, including better dashboards, filters for orders, and access to payout information.

As a result, we’ll continue to improve things so that selling directly to the consumer is increasingly easier and more profitable for you.

“Improvement of the farmer’s sales dashboard and more clarity in payment concepts”.

“I’d like CrowdFarming to offer me more support in the marketing of my products”.

“I think that feedback from the end customer could be improved; we don’t know what they think about our products”.

What’s more, 100% of you told us that you want us to meet more often!

“I think having one or two annual meetings of farmers and Farmer Hunters, and with the other departments, could be very positive. The meeting last June in Valencia was really interesting for me. Let’s hope that there can be more meetings, either with that format or others”.

3. Resilience to adverse weather conditions

Climate change continues to be a major concern, with 73.4% of you noticing how droughts and heatwaves are challenging your work on the farm every day and impacting your production, with 70% of you having seen your harvest reduced due to these factors.

We believe that organic and regenerative agriculture is the main way to withstand these climate extremes, which is why we’re always looking for producers converting to organic to join CrowdFarming and receive support for the transition.

What’s more, there are more and more of you in the Regenerative Agriculture Programme, measuring the impact of your practices on soil health, biodiversity and water, taking action to improve these aspects, and making your farms more resilient. These results will give us real evidence of your positive impact that we can share with the entire CrowdFarmer community and continue to enjoy its support in this transition. More than 60 of you have already signed up! 

“Together we want to change and improve the world, shifting all agriculture from conventional to organic and/or regenerative”.

“We wholeheartedly believe in this project: organic and regenerative agriculture, a project for the future”.

“CrowdFarming has given me the impetus I needed to start applying regenerative practices on my farm”.

“I’m convinced that regenerative agriculture is the future”.

Many of you — whether you’re part of the programme — already implement regenerative practices, with more than half of you applying plant remains to the soil, reducing tillage, or maintaining plant cover. More than 40% of you make your own compost, almost 20% of you are integrating livestock on your farms, and some of you are installing insect hotels (28%) or applying other biodiversity measures such as biological corridors, planting native trees, creating biodiversity ponds, or installing bird feeders. 

Among the main difficulties you come across in the transition to organic and regenerative agriculture are a lack of knowledge and a shortage of financial aid. We’ve launched the “1% for the Soil” initiative to allocate 1% of the sales of farmers in the Regenerative Agriculture Programme (part of our margin and which won’t affect your prices) to support the training, monitoring, and awareness-raising of regenerative agriculture, so we hope we can help you on these fronts. We’ve even made a film about organic-regenerative agriculture with some of you!

Your voice is key to building a platform that adapts to your needs and challenges, which is why we truly listen to it when deciding our priorities for the coming year.

Thank you for your commitment and hard work when it comes to building the world’s fairest and most sustainable agri-food chain.

Warm regards,

The CrowdFarming Team 

“With patience, everything comes in due season.”

Edouard Rene de Laboulaye

Europe, with its diverse climate, enables the production of a wide variety of fruits that are naturally available over extended seasons. This abundance reduces the need to import produce from other continents or rely on artificial methods of production, ripening, or refrigeration, thereby limiting the carbon footprint of our food and minimising waste associated with preservation.

By prioritising the consumption of regional fruits and vegetables, you support the work of farmers while encouraging an agricultural system deeply connected to its land, practices, and local varieties.

Thus, when you purchase organic and regenerative foods directly from a farmer, you contribute to preserving and enriching soil health.

With this calendar, you can plan your daily life while respecting the seasonality of fruits and vegetables.

Wishing you a wonderful 2025!

After the floods in Valencia, we informed you that the workers and farmers of CrowdFarming were well, although some had suffered material damage. As time has passed, we have learned about the most profound consequences that the rains and floods have had on the countryside and its socio-economic fabric. We have also witnessed the most supportive side of farmers.

Cultivating Solidarity

Ivan, from the NGO CERAI and its Horta Cuina initiative, has been coordinating small local farmers for some time – mostly organic – to provide organic fruit and vegetables to Valencian schools. This group of farmers supplies vegetables for the monthly CrowdFarming subscription.

Thanks to the good coordination they already had in place, this group of farmers was able to quickly get down to work. Farmers who suddenly saw their demand reduced – the economy is paused in these situations – took their products to communities that needed it – the shops in the area had been destroyed. The operation was financed with donations received by several organizations for the “Cultivate Solidarity” initiative, thanks to which farmers received payment for their produce, while the affected communities received the product at no cost. The NGOs that participate in the initiative are clear about it, when the businesses start operating again, they will take a step back. Solidarity cannot – should not – compete against local commerce.

We went to visit one of the member farmers of Horta Cuina: Bruno. Bruno has lost 40% of his production; his potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages and lettuce were submerged underwater and ended up rotting. Seeing his impeccable-looking aubergines, he tells us that the plant has actually absorbed so much water that, if they were harvested, brown spots would begin to appear caused by the excess water and the aubergines would end up rotting before reaching the consumer. Beyond the losses recorded by Bruno (€50,000), it is the long-term consequences that most concern this group of organic producers. Where did this water and sludge come from? What did they carry? Could they have contaminated their soils? Could they, then, lose organic certification? At the moment, they are carrying out soil analyses to have a first reading of the situation.

Up to a quarter of this group of producers has been affected in a similar way to Bruno. While acknowledging the devastation that the water has caused in their fields, he appreciated the role they have played in alleviating an even greater misfortune in residential areas. “The crops have slowed down the water, if it had been all asphalt accelerating the speed of the water, I don’t want to think how this would have ended.”

Saving the soil

The role of agricultural advisors is fundamental when it comes to a transition to another way of doing agriculture. Someone who earns the trust and respect of the farmer has the key in their hand to make a big impact. This is the case of Juan, an agricultural advisor to organic and conventional farmers, and a great believer in regenerative agriculture, which is why we met. Juan met us in Valencia to show us some of the fields most affected by the storms and floods.

We spent hours with Juan and one of the farmers he advises, Enrique, seeing farms covered by reeds, mud, and all kinds of debris and garbage dragged by the flood. Enrique practices conventional agriculture, but there is no doubt that, after witnessing the impact that water can have, he will plant vegetation cover on his farm. Enrique told us that “the water, as it finds a crack through which to sneak, destroys you” and he explained to us excitedly how by having the ground covered, he will be able to stop the water and prevent it from taking all his soil ahead.

In the regenerative agriculture group where we met Juan, many farmers send comparisons of their farms, in which they implement regenerative practices, and those of their neighbors. It is impressive to see how the regenerative farms have been able to absorb and filter water, conserving their soil, while across the border you can see floods of water and mud, dragging the soil that is so hard to create. Regenerative practices such as vegetation coverings or a design that allows water to be stored and conducted are some of the techniques for dealing with torrential rains and their antonym – droughts. “I’ve also noticed that, despite three years of drought, we’ve spent less on irrigation and inputs, yielding more kilos. It has taken years, but a life and more generations await us,” said Gonzalo, producer of the organic oil”Olioli” in Requena, Valencia.

La Junquera, one of our farmers, also reported through their social networks that, despite the fact that so much water didn’t fall in their area, they coped well with the storm thanks to the regenerative techniques they already implemented years ago. They also said that improvements they plan to carry out to deal even better with future downpours: “We need to make our water management structures larger and more resilient to face extreme weather events more frequently. Regenerative agriculture, which includes water management structures, cover crops, vegetation strips, hedges and the improvement of soil health, is key to reducing water speed and increasing soil absorption capacity.”

With an increase of just 1% in organic matter in the soil, it can retain up to an additional 75,700 litres of water per hectare. This sponge effect, especially beneficial during heavy rains, significantly decreases the amount of water that runs on the surface, thus reducing run-off, erosion and waterlogging. In addition, by controlling the volume and speed of water flowing into rivers, the risk of flooding in nearby communities is minimized.

However, little can be done when “a tsunami that drags mud, reeds and debris” arrives, as described by some interviewees. Juan and Enrique agree that help is now needed in the so-called “ground zero” of the disaster, where the priority is for people to return to their homes. But they hope that, after cleaning up those areas, they will come and help the farmers. Many still cannot access their farms even to see the state they are in, since “it is necessary to repair roads, clean and remove the mud to prevent the trees and their roots from rotting, as the soil cannot breathe.” Many try to quantify the magnitude of the disaster (AVA-Asaja, the association of Valencian farmers, estimates 1,089 million), but it is still difficult to know the real medium- and long-term consequences for these soils and the crops that grow on them.

The hero of the tractor

Vincent, from Hort de Zéfir, has been selling his mandarins through CrowdFarming since its inception. His neighboring farm, Naranjas del Carmen, is the farm of CrowdFarming’s founders, Gonzalo and Gabriel Úrculo. Vicent, driven by them, set out to make the leap to organic farming. He acknowledges that it hasn’t been an easy road, but he doesn’t regret it. Now his job is much more rewarding, and he keeps discovering every day how to do it better.

We drove with Vicent from his farm in Bétera, Valencia, to the town of Picanya, where the students of the Gavina School welcomed him as a hero and handed him a letter that said “thank you for helping us return to school”. During the weeks that separated the floods from the reopening of the school, Vicent traveled for up to 3 hours with his tractor to clear the mud from this school that his children went to years ago.

Vicent is part of a collective of organic farmers led by Nando Durá. When we got to see Nando, he had just been on TV explaining the situation. Nando has been responsible for coordinating the help of many farmers who put their machinery at the service of the most affected areas. “We cannot stand still when we are most needed, we did it by disinfecting the streets during the confinement of COVID-19, and we do it now with floods.”

If there is something positive that Nando brings out of all this, it is the visibility that the producer is gaining. Nando has his own website where he sells his citrus fruits and rice and, according to him, people are surprised to meet farmers and discover that they can buy their product directly from them through the internet and without intermediaries.

In southern Spain it also rains

Two weeks after the storms and floods that ravaged Valencia, it was time, again, for the southern part of the peninsula. The Axarquia area of Malaga, where many of our subtropical and citrus farmers are located, was especially affected. Before, we talked about the need for vegetation coverings to deal with torrential rains.  Just those days, there was a course organized by CrowdFarming with farmers from the Axarquía on vegetation coverings, which we had to postpone due to the red warnings of storms and floods.

Jessica, from Finca Aguilar, shows us how the lemon trees planted by her grandfather have turned upside down with the force of the water. We can see their roots looking up at the sky. Jessica acknowledges that “fortunately, thanks to the protocol adopted after what happened in Valencia, only material but not personal damage has occurred.” In the Axarquia, something similar happened as in Valencia, “the large amount of rainfall accumulated both in the town itself and in the upper areas of the province, have caused the flow of the river to rise suddenly, flooding and dragging everything in its path,” continues Jessica. 

In the why’s everyone finds their own culprits. Jessica, like other farmers, tells us about the reeds that clogged the waterways. Others talk about dams, government, climate change or urban planning. What everyone is clear about is one thing — they’ve never seen this before: “the water reached more than six meters in height,” Jessica tells us, “something completely incredible, we’ve been growing citrus fruits in these orchards for more than 50 years and my parents, grandparents or great-grandparents have never seen anything like it.” 

It’s more than just a material loss, Jessica explains. “We’ve lost a large part of our farm, which we’ve been working on for more than three generations,” but she doesn’t lose the desire to continue working for her family’s legacy. “With hard work and effort, we’ll bring colour to this great disaster.”

DANA: The older sister of the “Cold Drop”?

Anyone who knows the Spanish Mediterranean coast well has heard of the torrential rains called “cold drop”, typical of the months of September and October. This phenomenon occurs when an isolated polar air mass begins to circulate at very high altitudes and collides with the warmer and more humid air typical of the Mediterranean at the end of the summer, often triggering storms that discharge a large amount of water in a short time. In other words, a cold drop is a DANA, “Isolated Depression in High Levels”, the same that has caused havoc on the Spanish Mediterranean coast during these weeks. What has made it so devastating this time, then?

Experts have long warned that extreme events will become more frequent and intense. The IPCC (a UN scientific body that assesses climate change), announced in its latest report that Europe would face an increase in climate risks, including the risk of floods, which would affect people, economies and infrastructure, and losses in crop production due to combined heat and drought conditions and extreme weather events. A preliminary report by the academic organization World Weather Attribution has established that global warming made the rains that fell on Spain 12% more intense and doubled the chances of them occurring

In the world of agriculture — especially ecological and regenerative agriculture — we are used to hearing about “increasingly frequent extreme weather events” and their possible impact on our food security. It is part of our daily life to talk about droughts, harvests damaged by untimely hail or degraded soils. But on October 29, 2024 and the days that followed, Valencia and much of the Spanish Mediterranean coast were brutally shaken, and its consequences reverberated throughout the world.

The signs were, both that these extreme events would come and what the flood zones were, however, no one had prepared for something like this. Let’s learn from what happened, to change reactivity for resilience: a long-term race more than a sprint. The IPCC also proposes how to cope with these changes, and some closely resemble our vision of what agriculture should be: “Conservation, improved management and restoration of ecosystems, including the protection and restoration of biodiversity, can help strengthen resilience to climate change and provide a wide range of co-benefits, including support for livelihoods, human health and well-being, food and water security, and disaster risk reduction.

We stand firm in our position in defence of organic farming. But we also want to be part of a movement that is becoming more and more relevant in Europe and worldwide, namely regenerative agriculture. However, this sometimes creates tensions for us, and many internal debates. In this article, we share with you our views. 

Is organic farming not enough?

If we refer to the EU Council Regulation of June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products (Regulation (EC) No 834/2007), we find objectives very similar to those described today for regenerative agriculture:

‘To ensure a viable system of farm management that respects natural systems and cycles and preserves and improves the health of soil, water, plants and animals and the balance between them, and contributes to achieving a high degree of biodiversity.’ In addition to ‘high-quality products’.

However, as a certification was created for a European level, the regulations had to be adapted to a wide variety of contexts. The current regulation of organic farming is mainly based – although it includes other premises – on limiting the use of artificial fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides, which means that organic farmers must adopt different methods to maintain soil fertility and the health of animals and plants, such as the cultivation of nitrogen-fixing plants and other green fertiliser crops to restore soil fertility. 

In conclusion, organic farming is, in its essence, very close to regenerative agriculture. Organic certification is based on a list of permitted and prohibited techniques, which undoubtedly play a fundamental role in protecting the environment from the more damaging techniques of the conventional system. However, as the results are not measured in the environment, a certified organic farmer may not be regenerating his ecosystem. 

Is there a certification for regenerative agriculture?

There is no unified definition of regenerative agriculture. Nor is there a certification at a European level. Which means, there are thousands of them. Today, anyone can claim to be regenerative, and this leaves the door wide open to cunning and slippery greenwashing techniques. It’s a danger to those who are doing it right, and it’s a danger to consumer trust. 

At CrowdFarming we believe that a new regenerative certification would lead to exactly the same results as where we are today with the organic certification. After the titanic effort that has been made to push organic farming, which today accounts for only 9.9% of the land dedicated to agriculture in Europe, it would be a drama to create two certifications, which in their essence seek the same thing, to compete. 

What is our proposal then? Data, data, data. If there is one thing missing in organic certifications, it is a focus on context and assessment of results. If we are saying that regenerative agriculture is contextual and regenerates its environment, it cannot be marked by the auditing of a series of practices, which for one farmer can have excellent results and for another mean bankruptcy. Therefore, the only way to call yourself a “regenerative farmer” is to prove that you are regenerating the soil, the biodiversity, and the environment in which you operate. 

What do we ask of the European authorities?

Experts on the ground and access to training

There is enough online documentation on what regenerative agriculture is, there are plenty of webinars and courses on the subject. However, there is a lack of experts who know about specific crops and local conditions,  to build farmers’ confidence and to accompany them. There is a lack of model farms for different types of farming. Perhaps, if we decide on some kind of certification, it could be EU-certified trainers and advisors. 

A scalable measurement framework 

This entails adopting a framework that doesn’t rely on expensive studies, ensuring that the regenerative stamp isn’t exclusive to large producers. A framework that steers us toward the key factors crucial for the path to regeneration and provides guidance based on specific contexts such as geographical location, soil type, rainfall, and water availability.

At CrowdFarming, we have taken baseline measurements from farmers who, accompanied by experts, have started on the road to regeneration. You will find them under the label “in regeneration”. We will make these results public, as well as the evolution of these results from year to year. 

Grants that are awarded in line with the regeneration path

To help encourage more and more farmers to make the transition to regenerative practices. And we emphasise the word transition, we believe that this is where efforts should be focused. Let’s not create a system that is made to live off of subsidies, but subsidies to change the system.

The head of the German Farmers’ Union, Joachim Rukwid, has called for nationwide strikes from January 8th to protest even after the initially planned removal of tax breaks for farmers was taken back. The government’s decision to cut diesel subsidies and tax breaks for agricultural vehicles as part of its 2024 austerity measures has sparked outrage among farmers, leading to widespread protests in Berlin and other German cities. 

On top of this, recent floods, especially in the northern regions since December 23rd, have exacerbated the tension. As the fire brigade and related institutions work tirelessly to maintain dams and control flooding, farmers face not only immediate threats to their crops but also the long-term implications for their farms. Today, as rain turns to frost, the situation eases, but the burden on society remains palpable. Frozen streets and hundreds of tractors blocking roads in many German cities symbolize the shared struggle faced by farmers and the broader community.

Is More Pressure on German Farmers the Solution?

While the need to reduce carbon emissions and transition away from fossil fuels is undeniable (the country’s agriculture sector was responsible for 55.5 million metric tonnes of greenhouse emissions last year, roughly 7.4% of the country’s total), the question arises: is putting more pressure on German farmers the solution? The government’s idea to remove tax breaks and subsidies could have posed a severe threat to the livelihoods of farmers and the competitiveness of Germany’s agricultural sector. The planned strikes and demonstrations reflect the deep concerns within the farming community regarding these austerity measures, and tension has flooded into other topics such as increasing regulations. 

Sönke, organic sweet potato farmer at CrowdFarming, voices through his social media the collective frustration that has built up over the years. He highlights a specific issue where farmers are required to set aside 4% of arable land since 2023 for species protection. While acknowledging the importance of conservation, he emphasizes the lack of sufficient financial compensation for the loss of yield. Sönke, like many others, is also troubled by the increased workload, exemplified by farmers being tasked with conducting field inspections themselves through apps and photo assignments.

German farmers have argued that increasing the financial and regulatory pressure on farmers by taking away subsidies could mean the end of many small family-owned farms across the country. It’s essential to acknowledge that if we end German farming abruptly, exports from abroad can only be facilitated through fossil fuels, since no real alternative is available.

Increasing Prices as an attempt to face Rising Costs and Extreme Weather

Contrary to the common perception that rising food prices benefit farmers, the reality is that farmers are not currently reaping the rewards of these increases. Prices have been soaring over the past seasons due to reduced harvests and escalating costs at the farm and supply chain levels. 

Manuela, from Vulkanhof, dairy farmer at CrowdFarming, advocates for fair and stable producer prices, since farmers should rely more on their production rather than subsidies. Manuela finds value in initiatives like CrowdFarming, where direct sales allow a greater portion of the consumer’s payment to reach the farmer, contributing to the stability of farm incomes. 

It is also necessary for consumers to actively support, or be incentivized to support, organic and regenerative farming. This ensures they refrain from opting for cheaper alternatives that may be detrimental to the environment or less equitable for producers.

The Intersection of Environmental and Economic Concerns

The proposed cuts in subsidies would have aimed not only to address economic challenges, but also to reduce greenhouse emissions in the agricultural sector. And here lies the challenge — we have created a system of subsidies at a European level as the easy way out of a broken system. But subsidies without a proper transition plan just cover the problem until we can no longer rely on them, and then the problem returns to the surface again.

Many agricultural and political researchers have long been calling for a restructuring of the agricultural subsidy system. As an example, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft (or “Association of Peasant Agriculture”) 6-point agricultural policy plan advocates fair price negotiations, animal welfare support, and subsidy redistribution to strengthen small and medium-sized farms.

Our goal through this article is to present an objective perspective on the challenges faced by German farmers as they navigate through protests, policy demands, and the impacts of extreme weather conditions, but, at the same time, we want to emphasize the pressing need for a collaborative approach in order to transition towards a sustainable and fair agri-food chain. We hope the government, environmental groups, farmers, and other key players in the agri-food supply take this opportunity to come together and find common ground that ensures a thriving agricultural sector while advancing the country’s sustainability goals.

Hannah challenges our conventional perception of trees as mere carbon sequestrators and immerses us in the controversial and exciting world of reforestation. Far from being solitary beings, trees are part of a complex network that communicates through root systems and soil microorganisms, and they have an impact not only on the water cycles, carbon cycles and biodiversity of their ecosystems but also on the communities – from chimpanzees to people – that inhabit their environment. 

Through this brilliant conversation, we explore Hannah’s experience in entrepreneurship and trust-based marketing. We talk about the conflict between scaling up while maintaining the defiant spirit of the early days and grounding our most fundamental values as a company.

Planting trees or consuming green products is only the visible part of something much deeper. Through these actions, new actors are entering industries to disrupt the status quo,  change mindsets, drive a movement and commit to leaving the world in a better state than before.

Did you like it? Don’t miss out, you can watch the full episode here, or listen to it on any audio platform.

Spain is the main olive oil-producing country globally, and The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture periodically publishes a bulletin on the evolution of olive oil. This report from November reflected that on average in Spain, the price of olive oil had risen by 67% compared to the previous season and by almost 145% if we compare it with the one before this one (2021-2022).  

But why? When we dive into the causes and consequences of the increase in the price of olive oil, everything becomes a little more confusing. So let’s break down the main causes that have led us to this point, and the consequences that this may have on the key ingredient of the Mediterranean diet: olive oil. 

Why has the price of olive oil risen so much?

The first thing we experienced in 2023 was the continued rise of production costs and general inflation, which had a direct impact on the prices of fuel, energy, packaging, labour, etc. 

Then came the heat and the drought. The adverse weather conditions that have affected the Mediterranean region during the summer months have dehydrated the olives and severely affected crop yields, in turn impacting olive oil prices. It’s basic economics, as supply decreases and demand is maintained, prices increase, and, in this case, the farmers cannot respond immediately by producing more. Nature doesn’t work like that. 

While Spain, the world’s largest olive oil producer and exporter, produced 50% less olive oil in its most recent season (610,000 tonnes compared to a usual yield of 1.3 to 1.5 million tonnes), Turkey decided to suspend bulk oil exports until at least the 1 of November to secure domestic supplies, further reducing supply at the European level. Other countries have joined the trend set by Spain and are matching prices upwards, although their harvests have not necessarily been as affected. In addition, when large volumes have been sold at an agreed price before knowing how the harvest would go, we can see surprising differences in prices and olive oil can end up being more expensive in a producing country than in a country that is importing the product.

Finally, some have even seen an opportunity in the rise in oil prices, which has translated into an increase in oil thefts. The lure of record olive oil prices has attracted olive and olive oil thieves, which has added to the pressure on the olive oil market and contributed to the price spikes. 

With this price increase, nobody wins

Contrary to what one might think, rising prices can be a double-edged sword that threatens the financial stability of olive oil producers. While higher prices can lead to higher incomes, it is of little use if there isn’t much crop to sell. Especially for producers who focus on creating an excellent product, in terms of quality and environmental impact, the consequences can be even more serious.

The overpricing of these products can be a challenge for a consumer who has seen the prices of food rise since the beginning of the year. As prices rise, consumers either reduce the volume they buy or face the choice between paying a premium price for high-quality olive oil or looking for more affordable alternatives within the olive range. Another option may be to opt for other vegetable oils, although consumers’ cultural preferences for olive oil make substitution difficult despite the abundant supply of alternatives.

This change in consumer behaviour could have repercussions for the industry and could result in variations in product quality, especially in the higher priced categories such as “extra virgin” or “organic”.  Farmers could abandon these quality standards to increase their sales volume or resort to other techniques such as delaying the time of harvesting the olives, which increases the quantity of oil extracted, but results in lower quality. 

Here too we run the risk of encountering opportunists. The temptation to compromise quality by blending olive oil with lower-quality oils to maintain profit margins is of growing concern. 

Preserving the key player of the Mediterranean diet

In a global situation in which demand for olive oil exceeds supply, which is also unstable, price tension will continue to grow. We must therefore rethink whether we want to guarantee the quality and sustainability of this product in the long term or opt for short-term solutions that threaten the long-term relevance of this product.

The trend towards lower quality products can lead to the erosion of an emblematic product of the Mediterranean diet – a cultural heritage of humanity – to give way to one with much lower organoleptic and nutritional qualities. This is not a new story, are you familiar with Sherry wine? This wine was well known – and consumed – all over the world only a couple of decades ago, and, due to different market circumstances, it started a downward price struggle that affected the quality of the product, and, eventually, its perception, reducing its market to a few loyal fans. Let us prevent olive oil from suffering the same fate and let us try to preserve the quality of the Mediterranean’s green gold. 

We must also question the environmental aspect of preserving this product. It is the climatic conditions and the macroeconomic situation that have brought us to this point. But if we continue to rely on external inputs – pesticides, fertilisers and other chemical products – as conventional agriculture does, we will be tied to global price rises and at the mercy of their ups and downs. If, on the other hand, we advocate a transition to organic and regenerative agriculture, our olive groves will be more resilient, as will our businesses. The ability to adapt to these changing circumstances will be crucial to ensure the long-term survival of a key pillar of our culture and of the Mediterranean economy – extra virgin olive oil.

In this episode, we engage with Brent Loken, the Global Food Lead Scientist at WWF, as he delves into the intricate world of food systems’ impact. Loken’s role spans nearly 100 countries, where he oversees food-related scientific endeavors, emphasizing the connection between research and actionable solutions while respecting global culinary traditions.

Brent offers a pragmatic approach to food choices, advocating for more plant-based foods, reduced animal products, whole grains, and less sugar, accompanied by adequate hydration with water. His key advice is to avoid overwhelming consumers with complex dietary labels and instead provide clear, manageable recommendations that make healthier and more sustainable choices appealing through affordability and effective marketing. While supporting the benefits of local food in specific contexts, Brent stresses the carbon footprint of shipping food often pales in comparison to the significance of other choices, such as adopting plant-based diets. Food systems are complex puzzles, and tailored solutions are essential.

The conversation also addresses the critical role of research in engaging policymakers and the public to drive transformative change in food systems. WWF’s mission extends beyond research, aiming to simplify complex issues and make scientific findings pertinent to policymakers, empowering them to craft effective policies and regulations benefiting both people and the planet.

Loken’s journey into food-related research was sparked while collaborating with Indonesian communities, revealing the profound interplay between conservation and food systems. He now brings this knowledge to us through this episode, where he also highlights the need for more discussions on sustainable diets. So, as you listen to this episode, we encourage you to think about  which of these topics will you be bringing to the dining table!

Did you like it? Don’t miss out, you can watch the full episode here, or listen to it on any audio platform.

Juliana leads the Rainforest Alliance’s regenerative agriculture initiative. Some of you may be familiar with their “green frog” certification. We talked to her about the Rainforest Alliance’s mission and her views on regenerative agriculture. 

What is the Rainforest Alliance?

The Rainforest Alliance’s mission, Juliana tells us, goes beyond certification. This non-profit organisation focuses on building alliances, as its name suggests, “to protect forests and biodiversity, take action on climate, promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people, with the goal of creating a world where people and nature thrive together”.

Is a certification that doesn’t require fair prices useful?

As Juliana clarified, the Rainforest Alliance’s approach is about empowering farmers in a holistic way, focusing not only on market prices but also on quality, resilience and business growth. It is a long-term perspective that goes beyond immediate gains.

How does the Rainforest Alliance define regenerative agriculture?

Juliana emphasised that regenerative agriculture is not a one-size-fits-all solution, context is everything. Strategies need to be adapted according to local realities and farming systems. 

Does regenerative agriculture contribute to the elimination or reduction of the use of synthetic agrochemicals?

The Rainforest Alliance sees the transition to regenerative agriculture as a journey, the starting point of which is conventional agriculture. The stages of this journey are divided into efficiency, substitution and redesign. That is, first reducing the use of inputs, then substituting them with less harmful and organic inputs, and finally the total system redesign in which there is no reliance on inputs.  

Whose responsibility is it to achieve the transition to regenerative agriculture?

In conclusion, Juliana highlighted the need for a collective effort by consumers, producers, businesses and governments to drive the transition to regenerative agriculture, aligning economic incentives with knowledge and support.

Did you like it? Don’t miss out, you can watch the full episode here, or listen to it on any audio platform.