Farmers
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Meet our stars
Farmers do most of the work in bringing food from their shoulders to our plates. Unfortunately, farmers also carry the burden of food loss and waste imposed by beauty standards and market practices. We work directly with farmers to find a new market for produce that would normally go to waste. Imperfect produce from their farms straight to your door.
Maria José
Maria José has spent the last 15 years producing red fruits, such as raspberries and strawberries, in the Alentejo, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. She has a 10-hectare farm where she employs 15 people and produces 90 tons of raspberries and strawberries throughout the year. She uses a rotation model to ensure that different parts of her land are productive over several months and, in doing so, her harvest lasts from March to November. Before becoming a farmer, Maria José graduated in Management from the University of Coimbra and held different jobs in Lisbon.
Mine
Meet the Queen of Carrots: Felismina Maria Rodrigues Espada! It is thanks to her that every week you receive the much needed dose of Vitamin A & C. Hard-working and motivated, in 1990 she founded Sociedade Agrícola das Medrosas Lda. Every week, Felismina and her husband plant and maintain almost 30 hectares of land to give you the best vegetables possible: carrots, onions, corn and potatoes! Just an hour away from your kitchen, their farm is located in the small region of Pegões.
Ricardo
Ever wondered where our delicious tomatoes, courgettes and peppers come from? Introducing Ricardo Filipe Rodrigues Carreira from Torres Vedras. On his 25-hectare farm in Cabeça Gorda he also grows beans, cucumbers and different types of sweet potatoes. Together with his brother, Ricardo manages the farm and always makes you laugh when you meet him. Over the next two years, he plans to increase the parts of his land that do not yet produce any income. With this, our Ricardo hopes to be able to offer produce for more months of the year. Until then, he is enjoying working with Equal Food Co. and has found a great partner to sell his second-class products.
Cristina
Fancy something sweet? Well, Cristina is your girl! Alongside her husband, João Carlos, in 1993 they founded Moranguito Empresa Agricola Lda. Currently, their children João Levi and Sofia Lúcia are also part of the company and help out on the farm! A family of many wonders, they not only produce these mouth-watering strawberries, but also raspberries and persimmons: with an annual production of 350 tons! Their goal in the next 2 years is to increase the value of organic resources in production. This winter are you in need of a boost for your immune system? Then stick to your dose of strawberries...apart from their delicious taste, they offer an abundance of health and wellness benefits. With a great source of fibre, vitamin C and antioxidants! Equal Food Co. helps you with those strawberries that don't look great, but have great taste and nutritional properties.
Daniela
You know Daniela Policarpo. She has been behind her sweet potatoes that have been part of almost every basket since we started. She started her agricultural business in 2002. In A dos Cunhados, near Torres Vedras, she grows the sweet potatoes you already know, together with the pumpkins and the famous spinach that we always ask her for.
Jorge
In his late 50s, Jorge decided to embark on this journey to produce blueberries. He had his first year of production in 2020 with a production of about 220 tons: the maximum production ever achieved on his farm. The challenges were numerous in his very first year and Equal Food Co. helped him to sell the quantities he could not sell to his customers. Despite our help, in his first harvest several tonnes of produce remained on the plants, as regular buyers did not consider them suitable for sale due to their size and shape. This is why we will continue to help Jorge to overcome all these difficulties in the future.
António
António has been growing cherries for several years in Fundão, Portugal. Fundão is known as the capital of cherries because of all the cherries that grow in the area, but also because of the events that take place around this fruit, such as the "Cherry Festival". The season starts in April and lasts until mid-summer. António is unable to sell a significant part of his harvest, due to visual imperfections. These result from days of rain followed by plenty of sunshine, causing the cherry to pop and leave a small scar on the outside.
Isidoro
This is Isidoro, our new passion fruit producer on his farm, Quinta do Morgado, with his wife. Isidoro is 69 years old, and a young retiree from a transport company. Our producer always had a desire to move forward with an agricultural project and so it was. At the beginning of his retirement he started a plantation project with his son, Simão Morgado. Thus, five years ago they created an agricultural initiative as part of the Young Farmer project.
About four years ago they started planting. In the meantime they have had to deal with some setbacks, for example, an excess of frost on one of the plantations, which completely killed the entire harvest, and led to it having to be replanted. Another person helps on the plantation, but they do this business mainly with the help of the family (especially at harvest time). In terms of production there are 5800 plants, which is around 8 to 10 tons per hectar.
Passion fruits are a very sensitive product to temperatures and frosts, for example. These factors worry Isidro a lot, but that's not why he is thinking of stopping his project.