A very personal project

Back around the year 2011, my journey with the company began.

In early 2011, I was working as a pharmaceutical sales representative. My youngest daughter was born in February, and I was let go when I returned to work after my maternity leave. We were in the midst of the crisis that began in 2008. That same year, with my baby daughter just months old and my older one four years old, I decided to create an online store to sell Clemenvilla mandarins from my father-in-law's orchard.

With no prior experience in running a business, as my parents were not entrepreneurs, I commissioned a virtual store from a young man in Cullera, and my husband, who is a computer science teacher, helped me maintain and improve the website. With my Renault Scenic and my collection crates, I would go to the orchard to pick the Clemenvillas that I had sold and would complement them by picking Navelina oranges from other farmers willing to sell me a portion of their harvest (which sometimes made it challenging to secure the purchase). Then, I would pack them into boxes, create shipping invoices manually, one by one. I would wait for the transportation company, and once they picked up the oranges, I would handle customer service, marketing, accounting, and so on.

A little later, we bought the adjacent orchard from my brother-in-law to plant more Clemenvilla mandarins. That orchard had not been cultivated for years, and we chose not to "contaminate" the soil with chemical products. Thus, from the beginning, we practiced organic farming and also transformed my father-in-law's orchard. It's true that it has been a long and challenging journey, but it seems that next year it will start to become productive. Afterward, we rented two more orchards, which we also transformed into organic ones.

More than a decade has passed. When I look back, I have a mix of emotions. A lot of effort, sacrifice, fears, and more. There have been moments of high stress and a continuous effort to adapt the company to gradual growth. It hasn't been easy.

But there's also a lot of satisfaction in seeing the company we have built. A company with a soul. With fabulous customers who have understood us. Our best reward is when customers write to us, delighted with the oranges and mandarins we have sent them.

Sometimes, Lili, the head of the warehouse, and I reminisce about all the things that have happened to us over these more than ten years. Like the day when, due to a storm, the roof of the old warehouse broke, and it was raining inside, soaking all the boxes prepared for orange packing. Or when, having all the orders ready, the truck didn't come to pick them up because they forgot about us. Or when we went to pick oranges in an orchard, and there were no oranges left because they had all been stolen. Lately, we are also facing unfair competition, trying to take advantage of our years of effort and sacrifice.

We have overcome and will continue to overcome everything thanks to the tremendous human value of this company. Almost from the beginning, I had my friends Lili and Ingrid. As a fundamental pillar, our friend Vicent ensured that this small company has a top-notch website and information system with traceability, which we always say is a "Ferrari." A bit later, Esther joined the office, with impressive skills, managing everything to perfection, and Joan, who takes care of the farmers who supply us with oranges and manages the harvesting. Also, of course, all the other employees, from the first to the last, who do their work, always striving for everything to go well. I cannot forget to mention Gisela and Jocelyn, our fantastic translators, whose text quality is surely appreciated.

Speaking of myself, I consider myself an empathetic person who likes to tread on fair paths. I don't aspire to be a role model for anything; I am human and imperfect, I just want to sleep peacefully. I'm also not interested in investors, big projects, or advertising campaigns that I don't believe in as a consumer. I intend to continue doing what we do, keep learning and improving every day, and reach more people through our good work.

I have to talk about my family, especially my husband, Ximo. He has put both work and enthusiasm into the company in equal measure, and his demand and perfectionism have made him my ideal complement. He knows how to encourage me when I think I can't make it and reassure me when there are problems. Also, my father, who is always available as a "handyman," and the grandmothers who have taken care of our daughters with immense love when we couldn't due to work.

And my daughters, always, because they are the engine of my life.