MUST READ – Le Parisien: “I want to give more to the earth than I take from it, to honor it, to value it”

We are featured, and we are proud to share it with you! Excerpt from an interview given by Alexis Muñoz to Adeline Boval from Le Parisien.

Driven by passion for olive oil, Alexis Muñoz created the brand 18:1, which is now used by some of the top chefs. Only 4% of the olive oil consumed in France is produced here. The 105,000 tons of olive oil purchased each year in our country come from Spain, Italy, Tunisia, or Portugal. But a new player could soon help increase domestic production. Alexis Muñoz, 45, is planting a major olive grove in France, in the Uzès region (Gard).

“We've just planted 65 cm tall olive trees that we grew in a greenhouse for a year,” he explains. “To date, we’ve planted 70 hectares and plan to continue until we reach 100 or 120.”

A passion for the olive tree and its fruit that has never left him

He launched his company in 2013 to produce and distribute single-variety olive oils, pressed from as many different varieties as possible, at three distinct stages of maturity. “I was unknown; no grocery store would dare carry my olive oil,” he recalls. “I drove 120,000 km a year for two years, visiting chefs without appointments, and I earned my credibility. That’s how I structured 18:1.”

90% of his clients are chefs.

His brand, named after the simplified formula of oleic acid, aims to meet the needs of chefs: a light, unclassifiable container and a “premium olive oil at a tight price.”

Passionate about the green nectar, he’s also mindful of marketing. “This oil, just out of the mill, was tasted by Chef Guy Savoy last night, and he liked it,” he casually mentions. He then performs a long ceremonial tasting. “I am an elaïologist, not an oenologist,” he insists. “I can taste blindly, plant trees, and operate a mill. It’s the same difference as between a sommelier and an oenologist for wine.”

Today, while 90% of his clients are chefs, Alexis Muñoz’s oils are sold in about 200 fine grocery stores and cheesemongers.