How Citizens of Soil Is Reinventing Olive Oil

In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Sarah and Michael Vachon, the founders of Citizens of Soil, one of the most exciting challenger brands in food and drink right now. We explore how they are transforming olive oil from a commoditised pantry staple into a brand built on transparency, craft, regenerative farming and fairer value for producers, while building a modern consumer brand with real emotional connection and standout commercial momentum. What I loved about this conversation is that it is about so much more than premium olive oil. Sarah and Michael share how they spotted a broken supply chain, why they chose to back small producers and female-led groves, and how a simple shift from calling something a subscription to calling it a club changed the business's growth trajectory. If you are building a consumer brand and thinking about community, premiumisation, founder focus and how to create real value in a category, there is so much to learn here. What You’ll Learn - Why Citizens of Soil saw a much bigger opportunity than simply selling premium olive oil - How changing “subscription” to “club” drove a dramatic increase in member growth - What founders can learn from borrowing packaging and positioning cues from adjacent categories - Why direct customer insight and social listening led to the launch of the Health Club - How Sarah and Michael are balancing rapid growth, team building and direct producer relationships Key Topics Discussed - Rebuilding value in a commoditised olive oil category - Regenerative farming and fairer producer economics - Borrowing premium cues from the wine category - DTC growth and the Olive Oil Club model - Community building versus transactional selling - Nutrition-led innovation and high polyphenol oils - Retail growth across Waitrose, Ocado, Booths, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges - Building a team to support DTC and brand-led growth - Working as a husband-and-wife founder team - Premium pricing, value creation and consumer behaviour Useful Links Website Connect with Michael Connect with Sarah Connect with Citizens of Soil on LinkedIn We love inspiring you and helping your business to grow! PLEASE share the love by sharing this episode with another founder building a challenger brand, a colleague or a mate who loves brilliant food brands and category reinvention. Don't forget to FOLLOW or

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How Citizens of Soil Is Reinventing Olive Oil is an episode from Brand Growth Heroes by Brand Growth Heroes Mini MBA.

This episode is 51:24 long.

This episode was published on Apr 28, 2026.

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