Nando Durá’s first profession was in music. He began finding out at six, bought a level in music schooling, and even taught for just a few months. It didn’t take.
He selected to run his household’s farmland in Valencia as a substitute, promoting oranges the identical approach each citrus farmer within the area did.
Wholesale consumers would present up, negotiate a value for the fruit nonetheless on the tree, decide it themselves, and ship it off to supermarkets throughout Europe.
It’s a system that works properly sufficient till it doesn’t.
The client who disappeared
In the course of the 2020–2021 season, Nando signed and confirmed a take care of a wholesale purchaser. The whole lot went simply as regular – they agreed on the worth, and so they set the harvest deadline.
Then the bizarre occurred as the gathering date approached: the client vanished. Telephone off, fully unreachable.
Nando was left alone with bushes stuffed with ripe citrus and no plan B.
He wasn’t about to let high quality fruit go to waste, although. So, he requested himself why he couldn’t simply share the scent and style of a freshly picked orange with folks instantly.
He already had a good following on his X account, individuals who adopted his posts about life on the farm. So he took an opportunity and posted a easy message: beginning Monday, he’d be promoting oranges on to customers.
Within the first week alone, he bought round 250 bins of 15 kg every, shipped throughout Spain. All that occurred organically. There was no system – simply folks stepping in to assist.
His brother was out of labor, so Nando informed him he had a job till one thing else got here alongside. Collectively together with his father, the three of them began packing bins of oranges from the farm. An area transport firm in Sueca heard what he was doing and informed him to not fear, they’d assist with delivery.
From the tree to the desk (actually)
Naranjas Nando Durá‘s tagline is “del campo a la mesa,” which Nando interprets to “from the tree to the desk”. And he means it actually.
Whenever you place an order, the fruit remains to be on the tree, picked, and shipped inside 24 to 48 hours.
After harvest, the oranges go via a calibrator that kinds them by dimension and removes subject mud. That’s the complete course of. No wax coatings, no industrial therapy, no chilly storage, no weeks spent in a distribution warehouse.
What prospects obtain is fruit in its easiest type, but in addition the absence of every part the commercial provide chain sometimes provides. And folks observed. They got here for the freshness, the flavour, and the directness of shopping for from the one who really grew the fruit.
That reference to prospects didn’t cease on the product. Nando shares the total rising cycle on his X account, giving prospects a transparent view of the place their meals comes from.
It’s not a advertising technique a lot as it’s how he operates. He’s within the subject daily, and he exhibits it. Over time, that consistency has constructed a loyal buyer base that returns season after season – and confirmed his determination to make direct-to-consumer gross sales a central a part of the enterprise.
The small change that led to a big effect
After that first wave of orders from X, Nando dealt with gross sales via WhatsApp. Prospects would message. He’d reply with what was accessible. They’d agree on an order, and he’d look forward to proof of cost.
He ran the complete first season that approach, throughout WhatsApp, X, and Instagram, promoting three orange varieties from November via June.
There was a private heat to it. Some long-time prospects nonetheless order that approach.
Nevertheless it didn’t scale, even at Nando’s deliberately modest dimension.
Each order meant back-and-forth messages: evenings, weekends, mealtimes. He felt stress to reply rapidly so nobody was left ready.
For a farmer whose days begin early within the subject, that fixed pull on his consideration turned draining. “Promoting on to the buyer is totally different, and having an internet presence is important,” Nando recalled.
Whereas his X account was already an awesome place to draw potential prospects, what he wanted subsequent was a correct web site. This manner, he has a centralized system the place folks can browse what’s accessible, place an order, and pay, with no back-and-forth dialog every time.
So, Nando constructed one with Hostinger’s on-line retailer builder. What drew him to Hostinger was easy: it match his funds.
Hiring an expert internet designer wasn’t life like for him at the moment. Margins are tight, and he wanted one thing inexpensive and simple to make use of to get began.
The primary issue within the determination was the options he wanted for the enterprise: on-line retailer performance, a multilingual choice that lets him run his website in each Spanish and Catalan, and a weblog to share tales.
And since Hostinger doesn’t cost transaction commissions, extra of every sale stays with him. For a small agricultural enterprise, it’s what makes the mannequin sustainable.
Now, round 70% of orders come via the web site robotically. Prospects browse the store, select their field dimension, and pay on-line. Nando solely has to behave after a notification, with out chasing confirmations or juggling dozens of conversations without delay.
“It has taken fairly an vital weight off my shoulders, particularly through the winter months when citrus gross sales peak,” he mentioned.
A farmer first, at all times
Nando’s story doesn’t observe the everyday startup playbook. He’s not chasing aggressive progress or making an attempt to show his operation right into a logistics firm.
Rising past a sure level would imply hiring extra workers, investing in packing infrastructure, and spending much less time within the subject. As Nando places it, scaling additional “wouldn’t give us life.”
“In the long run, my job is to be a farmer,” he mentioned. “It’s to go to the sector daily. The purpose is to domesticate, to create merchandise that you just like.”
That deliberate method hasn’t held the enterprise again. Direct gross sales have grown steadily, with annual income rising 47% yr over yr in 2025. However Nando’s purpose stays the identical: match or barely surpass final season’s numbers, with out dropping the rhythm of the work that bought him right here.
He nonetheless sells a portion of his harvest to industrial consumers. The amount is solely greater than he may ship field by field, and a farmer who desires to make an actual residing from the land wants a number of income streams. Nando is clear-eyed about that steadiness.
Delivery additionally stays inside the Iberian Peninsula. He’s drawn the road on the Balearic and Canary Islands, as transit instances and prices for contemporary produce don’t maintain up. If the oranges can’t arrive contemporary, he’d slightly not ship them in any respect.
The whole lot he’s constructed on-line serves one objective: to maintain him within the subject, rising what he loves, and getting it to individuals who admire it.
If you happen to run a enterprise like Nando’s, you may construct an ecommerce retailer with out design expertise and make it a significant a part of your gross sales too. You don’t have to start out huge. You simply have to start out.
Simon is a dynamic Content material Author who loves serving to folks rework their artistic concepts into thriving companies. With intensive advertising expertise, he consistently strives to attach the suitable message with the suitable viewers. In his spare time, Simon enjoys lengthy runs, nurturing his chilli vegetation, and mountain climbing via forests. Comply with him on LinkedIn.
Larassatti Dharma is a content material author with 4+ years of expertise within the hosting trade. She has populated the web with over 100 YouTube scripts and articles round hosting, digital advertising, and e mail advertising. When she’s not writing, Laras enjoys solo touring across the globe or making an attempt new recipes in her kitchen. Comply with her on LinkedIn
