The imperfect fruit of Talkual prepares to bill more than 5 million this 2024

Supermarkets reject on average 10% to 15% of stone fruit from farmers, which translates into tons of product in good condition discarded daily due to aesthetic requirements. "In large stores, you find cloned products of the same caliber, shape, and coloration, but trees do not produce clones, and the cost of discarding what falls outside this standard is borne by the producer." Now, initiatives have emerged to combat this food waste, such as Talkual, led by Marc Ibós. The startup, a pioneer in this field in Catalonia, expects to double its business volume for the second consecutive year, reaching 5.5 million euros, and is beginning to look towards internationalization.

"My family has always been linked to the fruit sector: my grandfather started cultivating his land, my father continued, and I kept working as a farmer. I like to say that I am a farmer who has gotten ahead," recounts the co-CEO of Talkual. Ibós launched the startup in 2019 in Bellpuig together with co-CEO Oriol Aldomà, a friend previously dedicated to teaching to whom he used to give some of his apples: "We encouraged each other to promote it, and we saw that in other countries, like the United States, it was profitable to sell imperfect produce."

After about eight months of developing the idea and the project, they sold the first seven boxes of fruit to their family in February 2020. Then, the pandemic arrived. On the one hand, the lockdown benefited online sales, although "transport companies were not prepared for the flood of orders generated everywhere." Once the effects of the pandemic were overcome, the Lleida-based startup gained customers and, with them, increased its turnover, doubling it year after year. From the 300,000 euros they invoiced in 2020, they went to 800,000 in 2021, and exceeded 1.3 million euros in 2022. Last year it was 2.8 million euros, reaching the 5.5 million euros they foresee for this 2024. In parallel, Talkual has also been expanding its workforce, up to the 34 employees it currently has.

Talkual, which has grown based on its own funds and without resorting to investment rounds, operates through a subscription model with its end customers: it currently has 8,000 active subscribers, to whom it delivers about 5,000 weekly boxes of fruit and vegetables. In them, customers receive seasonal produce, in an assortment that they can customize by vetoing the products they do not wish to receive.

In addition to a direct sales channel with the end customer, the startup also has a B2B business line with offices that offer fruit to their employees. This line, with which Talkual supplies 160 companies, is one that the startup wants to strengthen. Looking ahead, it sets another big goal: to launch into internationalization. "We are starting to have a level of turnover that allows us to try," says Ibós. To do this, Talkual is analyzing European markets to define its international strategy.

Also as a novelty within Talkual's plans, the company is developing an online supermarket for products that go beyond fruit and vegetables, but are equally linked to imperfect products, such as nuts that are discarded due to their coloration when they have the same properties and flavor as those found in any large supermarket.

The startup has not only customers throughout peninsular Spain, but also fruit and vegetable suppliers at a national level. "At first it was hard to find them, but now the synergies are very clear and we have many producers," highlights Ibós. The company has worked since its creation with about 400 producers, and has a hundred permanent ones throughout the year. Suppliers change weekly, depending on the season and the product, and usually exceed ten each week.

"I am a farmer, and I know farmers. And it's easy when what we propose is to buy that product that large supermarkets don't want to buy," emphasizes Ibós, who highlights that the project not only benefits producers, but also contributes to reducing food waste: "Discarding good product is something very hard, and we come to combat it."