How Citizens of Soil Is Reinventing Olive Oil, with Sarah and Michael Vachon, founders of Citizens of Soil

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 relationshipsKey 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 behaviourUseful LinksWebsite https://www.citizensofsoil.com/Connect with Michael https://www.linkedin.com/in/vachonline/Connect with Sarah https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahfulton/Connect with Citizens of Soil on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/citizens-of-soil/posts/?feedView=allWe 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 SUBSCRIBE to Brand Growth Heroes on your favourite podcast app, and even LEAVE A REVIEW - both of these actions make a MASSIVE difference to our mission to help more founders just like you.Join our community on Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, and find out more about the programmes and courses Fiona runs, as well as the NextGen CPG WhatsApp group for founders leaning in to the value that a leadership approach to engaging with AI can unlock for businesses like yours.Follow Brand Growth Heroes on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.Thanks to Brand Growth Heroes’ podcast sponsor — Joelson, a B Corp-certified commercial law firm.If you're a founder, you already know how much energy goes into building the perfect product, creating standout branding and connecting with consumers.But scaling a CPG business also brings legal complexities that can make or break your growth journey - from contracts and regulatory compliance to protecting your intellectual property.That’s why we’re proud to partner with Joelson, the leading commercial law firm specialising in helping founders of scaling consumer brands.Joelson works with brands like Little Moons, TRIP, Two Chicks, graze and Crosta & Mollica, and advised the Innocent founders on their landmark sale to Coca-Cola - and still work with them today!Do you need legal advice as you grow your brand?You can book a free consultation with one of Joelson lawyers here: https://joelsonlaw.com/contact/bookings/Thanks to our Sound Engineer Gyp Buggane at Ballagroove.com and podcast producer/content creator Kathryn Watts, Social KEWS https://socialkews.co.uk/