Logbook
FarmUni is built from Baigorri, in the Basque Country, alongside working the land. Here we tell it all: what works, what broke, what we learned and what comes next. An honest page, updated as we go.
Updated on October 30, 2026
Right now
Coming up
Ideas, with no promised date. Your feedback decides the order.
- Order from a farm just by asking an AI assistant (ChatGPT, Claude…): it is ready and coming online soon
- Automatically tell customers when "their" farm opens its online shop
- Add the missing producers: hazelnuts, almonds, citrus, kiwis… and you can suggest some
- Read every farm page to know exactly what each farm grows
- Highlight farm visits: go and see how it is done, not just buy
- 24/7 farm lockers and grouped delivery from several farms, so local is as easy as the supermarket
The road so far
- Struggle
The English, Spanish and Basque site was broken
While preparing these new pages, we found that translated addresses (/en/about, /eu/gure-baserriak…) had led to an error page for months. It is fixed. Lesson: check the site like a visitor, in every language.
- Idea
We removed the chatbot
The small AI assistant on the site helped almost no one. We removed it, and now measure what visitors really do to improve what matters.
- Progress
New map in the mobile app
A redesigned interactive map, a modernised farm list, a multilingual cart, and an update for the latest Android phones.
- Struggle
A big security clean-up
We overhauled security: prices are recalculated by the server, photos and data are better protected. Tightening the rules broke photo uploads in the app for a few days, before we fixed it.
- Progress
Less jargon, more real
The site sounded too "startup". We rewrote it plainly, replaced AI-generated images with real photos of the land, and told the FarmUni story as it is.
- Idea
Phone first
Producers manage everything from their phone, often between two milkings. We rethought everything for mobile first.
- Struggle
The bill that scared us
The site re-read the whole database on every visit: tens of millions of reads and a soaring cloud bill. We rebuilt it so data is kept in memory. Lesson: what is free at first is not always free for long.
- Progress
Ready to be found on Google
Every farm now has its own public page, visible to search engines, in 4 languages: French, English, Spanish and Basque.
- Struggle
The morale blow
Many producers told us the same thing: without an immediate gain, they have no time. Here, loyal customers already order by phone, and tourists are only passing through. We built a lot, but with no sales, morale dropped and FarmUni was set aside for a few months. What it taught us: start from what producers already do, not from what we would like them to do.
- Struggle
Too fast, too broad
In one month, helped by new AI tools, we built a lot: producer shops, a till for markets, weather and farming advice… Far too much at once, while the essential thing, selling, did not work yet. Since then we focus on one thing: helping you find a farm and buy from it.
- Struggle
A partnership that fell through
A producers' association was keen to list its farms on FarmUni. To save them time, we prepared pages and products before each farm had said yes. We meant to help, but it was not seen that way, which is understandable: farmers are so often mistreated from all sides. The talks ended there. Lesson: even to help, do nothing without clear agreement.
- Idea
Thousands of farms from open data
Rather than waiting for each farm to sign up, we prepared pages from public data on producers, for part of France. One producer wrote to us, upset to find their farm listed without asking: we removed the page right away. Since then, every page clearly explains how to claim, correct or remove it.
- Progress
A new site, a clean start
The first version had reached its limits. In July and August we rebuilt the site from scratch, faster, and it now also powers the iPhone and Android app.
- Struggle
The Terroir Box, and ads that went nowhere
We tried a surprise box of Basque Country products, with social media ads. It did not take off. Lesson: advertising does not create desire for a product nobody is looking for.
- Struggle
Farm by farm, one by one, and so few sales
Tourist offices told us frankly that the site did not look professional. So we called producers one by one, and went to farms to set up their page with them. Feedback was kind and there were a few sales, but often to friends and family. The hardest struggle: doing everything right, and it still not really taking off.
- Struggle
The "I buy local" trap
Almost everyone says they want to buy local. When it comes to shopping, most go to the supermarket, because it is easier. We rewrote our strategy three times around one idea: make buying from a farm as easy as the supermarket.
- Progress
First app in the stores
The first version of the FarmUni app passes the App Store and Google Play reviews.
- Struggle
Our first flyers, and emails with no reply
The very first flyer handout was at the Aldudes open days, and we were terrified. Then the Espelette, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port markets. Then many emails to producers… and very few replies.
- Progress
Six intense months building the app
Right after finishing studies, from March to August, we built the first app with FlutterFlow, a tool for making apps with almost no code. Whole days and evenings of trial and error, breaking things and starting over.
- Idea
The idea, in Baigorri
Local producers do amazing work, but selling direct takes them a huge amount of time: calls, texts, appointments. And for us, finding a farm nearby should be second nature. That is where FarmUni was born.
Have an idea, or know a farm?
This logbook is written with you too. Suggest a producer or write to us: every message gets an answer.