Citizens of Soil brings premium extra virgin olive oil from small-batch, family-farms direct to consumers.
Founded 2021
Invested 2025
In Citizen of Soil's words
“We’re turning a commodity into a community with extra virgin olive oils that elevate the table *and* the farmer. We pay our producers above market prices, and directly into their pockets. This way grove owners can focus on the quality of the oil and continue to implement regenerative farming techniques to preserve biodiversity and soil quality.”In FIGR's words
“We are excited to support Sarah, Michael and the team on their journey to redefine the olive oil market. They are genuinely passionate about getting the most sustainably and fairly produced extra virgin olive oils into the hands of consumers, which sets them apart in a sector dominated by mass-produced blends. Plus, the oils taste amazing!”A conversation with Citizens of Soil’s founders, Sarah and Michael Vachon.
What inspired you to start Citizens of Soil?
We have friends in Greece who were doing more to preserve their land than anyone else around them, but because olive oil is treated as a commodity, they were only ever paid the same as people who were farming intensively, stripping the land of its natural resources.
When you pay farmers directly and you pay them above the commodity rates for farming regeneratively, the result is you get a much higher-quality product, that tastes amazing, is full of nutritional benefits, and is better for the planet.
What problems is Citizens of Soil solving?
In the commodity system of olive oil, producers are typically paid a set price by weight, and when you prioritise quantity, you sacrifice quality. We ensure fair pay and help introduce better farming practices that mean the quality of our olive oils tend to get better every year.
This is a huge benefit for our customers, most of whom find it’s difficult to find olive oil brands they can trust. Unlike most other brands, we make a point of showcasing who makes every olive oil we sell, where it comes from, when it was harvested, and other important details like the level of polyphenols (antioxidants) present. It’s through transparency that we build trust and it’s through trust that we build community.
How will this investment help Citizens of Soil?
We're so honoured that such an exciting group of people all share our vision for creating lasting change in the olive oil industry. Amidst a clearly challenging fundraising environment, we’ve secured £1.8M in new investment from FIGR, another private family office, and a small group of angel investors, to grow our business and support more amazing olive oil producers.
For starters, we will dramatically scale up our direct-to-consumer offering and welcome thousands of new members in our Olive Oil Club, the UK’s only monthly letterbox delivery of olive oil. At the same time, we’ll be expanding our footprint across national grocery, bringing our exciting core range of regeneratively-farmed extra virgin olive oil to so many new shoppers.
All this growth needs a strong team and this investment will enable us to continue to hire the best in the business. We’ll be expanding our team across digital, sales, and marketing in 2025.
Lastly, and most importantly, this means we can work with even more farmers to support our growth, paying them well above the commodity rates, and ensuring they’re well-equipped to continue regenerating their land.
How have you found working with FIGR so far?
Before we even finalised the investment with FIGR, Ellie and Fiona were already leaning in to support with introductions, potential candidates, and more. We’ve always found they had our best interests in mind and we’re so excited to see what we can achieve together in the years to come.