A Nomadic Farmer with Spanish and French Roots

Alexis Muñoz grew up in the heart of the Pyrenees, spending his childhood between France and Spain, the two countries of his nationality. With a grandmother who was half Andalusian and half Catalan, Alexis acquired a palate for extra virgin olive oil from a young age. He recounts, “Growing up between Pyrenées and Andalusia, my grandmother used to serve me grilled bread dripping in extra virgin olive oil each morning as a child.”

After working in events management, Alexis transitioned to a career in olive oil in 2012. Alongside his work, since 2005, he had been educating himself on the principles of organic and regenerative farming, learning from notable farmers, writers, and environmental philosophers. Some of his most influential teachers include Pierre Rabhi, a pioneer of French agroecology and founder of prominent French and global environmental and social organizations. “Pierre Rabhi’s humanist and agroecological vision deeply shaped my understanding of living systems,” he explains.

Another was Marc-André Selosse, a leading researcher and professor at the National Museum of Natural History, best known for his pioneering research on the mutually beneficial relationships between soil fungi and plant roots. As Alexis explains, “His work helped me refine my understanding of soils, microbiomes, and ecosystem dynamics.”

Among his many areas of research and education, Alexis is an élaiologue, an expert across the entire olive oil production chain and a professional olive oil sommelier. “I spent more than fifteen years training within the world of olive oil, which has given me the technical and sensory expertise to connect soil with aroma, farming practices with flavor, and ecological regeneration with fruit quality.”

Reviving Olive Oil Production and Economy in Occitanie

Now in his fifties, Alexis has spent the last two years developing the NECTAR  program, through which he takes over abandoned plots of land in the upper Aude Valley, at the foot of the Pyrenees in Occitanie region of southern France. He highlights, “This is one of the first national regenerative oléiculture programs in response to the accelerating climate crisis and increasing recognition of the need for greater food sovereignty.”

Through the NECTAR project, Alexis and his team (confirm who)are on a mission to plant up to 1,000 hectares olive groves, create over 50 jobs, and secure €30 million in agricultural and industrial investment to help revitalize the Occitanie region. In doing so, the project aims to store up to 30,000 tonnes of CO₂. Alexis also wants to develop training courses for the current and future generations of olive farmers in the region. “Our goal is to dynamize the olive oil economy in this corner of France and boost employment.”

The first farm Alexis and his partners  manage under the NECTAR program is located in the Malepère Mountains, 5 km south of Carcassonne. Here, Alexis and his team have planted 300 hectares of olive trees, 13 km of hedges, 10 ponds, 650 nesting boxes, bee-friendly zones, and cover crops. Among the olive trees, you will find a mix of sloe, lemon, and cherry trees to further boost the farm’s biodiversity. “Our first regenerative farm is not just a farm. It is also a living research laboratory, where each plot is an opportunity to learn and refine our agronomic practices.” Since 2023, we have established three large-scale farms, following the same principles in the Malepère Massif, 20 km all around Carcassonne.

In both cases, Alexis and his team have inherited land that had been subject to intensive agriculture and has since been on a mission to bring life back to the soil. He says, “These intensive agricultural systems had left behind impoverished, compacted soils that were, in places, almost inert. In other words: a living environment that had lost its vitality.”

Alexis began with gentle mechanical decompaction to break the hardpan layers accumulated over the years. What's more, zero tillage and maximizing the use of cover crops have been integral to transforming the land. “Our intervention is limited to sowing covers each year, and we cultivate mixes designed to feed the ecosystem: fava beans, peas, barley, and other species capable of fixing nitrogen, structuring the soil, and creating a natural carbon-rich mulch.”

Alexis’s team ultimate mission is to transform the soil into a living, functional, and resilient ecosystem capable of nourishing his olive trees through its own biological and ecological cycles. “Our ambition is clear: to restore, within five to ten years, a form of natural self-fertility,” he points out.

Notably, Alexis and his partners are yet to generate any revenue from the young olive trees planted on the two abandoned plots under the NECTAR program. Despite this, Alexis has made these bioregenerative olive groves open to the public to learn firsthand as the plots undergo ecological transformation through his regenerative practices. “We organize field days, technical visits and learning sessions on our pilot farm to demonstrate, in real conditions, what regenerative olive agroforestry looks like.”

An Olive Oil Aficionado who Respects Each Olive Variety

To support his environmental ambitions with the NECTAR program, Alexis manages a thriving olive oil business production. The business, called 18:1 Olive Oil, offers three types of organic monovarietal extra virgin olive oil from native Spanish olive varieties: Picual and Arbequina, produced on the outskirts of Córdoba in Andalusia, and Cornicabra, produced near Toledo in Castilla-La Mancha, his grandfather’s home region. Alexis also produces an exclusive edition of extra virgin olive oil in limited quantities from an organic farm in the La Rioja region, at the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees. “When evaluating an olive oil objectively, the two key indicators of quality are the olive variety and the fruit's stage of ripeness, together with the producer’s expertise. Neither the region nor the country of origin determines the quality of an olive oil. I want the consumer to have the same sensation as me whenever they taste my oils.”

What remains consistent is Alexis’s belief in producing solely monovarietal oils, harvested during the day and pressed that same evening. “Once my olives are harvested from the tree, they are exposed to minimal daylight to prevent oxidation. The metallic canisters in which our oil is sold not only look aesthetically pleasing, but they preserve the aroma, taste, and oil from oxidation.”

Since 2012, Alexis’s production for 18:1 has increased from 18,000 to 150,000 litres of olive oil annually, sold in 500 shops around France, including the legendary La Grande Épicerie gourmet food hall next to Le Bon Marché department store in Paris.

60% percent of his clientele are chefs across the globe who select their preferred oils based on their desired aromas and olive maturity, including French Michelin-starred chefs Guy Savoy, Julien Royer and Anne-Sophie Pic. As Alexis puts it, “I have always wanted to offer superior-category organic and monovarietal extra virgin olive oils with nuanced, fresh, fruity and bitter aromas and tastes at the fairest price, so that chefs are not forced to skimp on quality oils in their kitchen. At the same time, each bottle tells the story of the people and ecosystems behind it.”

An Environmental Visionary Looking to Create Local Change

Inspired by the natural rhythms of nature he has observed since childhood in both France and Spain, Alexis has made it his mission to create tangible change for future generations. He highlights, “We believe the time has come to rethink the way we produce and consume. We have chosen to build a model that protects, restores, and inspires.”

As part of the Top 50 Farmers 2026 cohort, Alexis wants to extend his technical farming knowledge further to implement new practices within his new bioregenerative project. “I am looking for support in exchanging technical insights and masterclasses that would support the growth of our regenerative oléiculture.”

As he concludes, “My vision through NECTAR is to be a flagship model of regenerative olive agriculture, proving that this form of farming can be productive, ecologically restorative, economically viable, and socially enriching all at the same time.”

Written by Top 50 Farmers and Tim Phedon