Interview: Skyler Mapes, Co-Founder of EXAU Olive Oil

By Angela Tai

Your company EXAU Olive Oil is wildly successful. In 2019, you were indoctrinated into the official index of the world’s best olive oils. I know you started your career in architecture and marketing. When did you decide that you wanted to go into the food industry? 

There wasn’t necessarily a point when I decided I wanted to go into the food industry, more so, I was feeling a lack of creativity when I entered the world of design which is the opposite reason of why I entered. With the way the industry is, there are many limitations to what you can do in the US and I felt very restrained so I knew that wasn’t going to work well in the long-run. My husband and I had been going back and forth to Italy for a good portion of our relationship; when he visited the US in 2015, he tasted the olive oil and exclaimed, “what is this?!” I said “that’s olive oil” and he said “no it’s not.” My husband was really into olive oil since his family had been making it for almost 100 years. I was very consumed by the sparkling world of design and wanted to build multi-million dollar homes and restaurants; I actually didn’t want to become an olive oil producer. That said, I wasn’t very happy in architecture so he planted a seedling of an idea in my head. We went to Italy and came back and it was then that I reached out to my friend (Shauna), a wine producer, in the Bay area. I was interested in exploring other career paths and inquired about working at the winery. This gave me the experience to work with big equipment, it was my first time making food/beverage on a large scale, we went through the entire process of making wine. It was very physically labor-intensive and every person had their role. Shauna was leading us and everything just kind of flowed together. We moved to Italy in 2017 to start the company. Again, you fall into the olive oil industry. You don’t decide, ‘that’s my career choice.’

Was there a big learning curve when you first started?

Most people in this line of work import oil or buy oil from an importer or someone they got in contact with in Italy. They’re resellers or have a brand but don’t actually produce the product themselves. Looking back, I get why people thought we were nuts for being so hands-on. The most difficult part is importing and all the regulations that go along with it; the logistics industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and the products have to go through a very strict process in order to be imported. There are all these little pieces that people don’t really see. I must have called the FDA everyday and I’d be on hold for hours. As a consumer, you don’t think about all these intricacies. And when we were starting the business we had to learn about nutrition facts and make sure we could find a broker and people who could help with importing. 

You mentioned that you started EXAU in 2017 due to a lack of high quality Italian olive oil in California. A lot of people have grandiose ideas but most don’t do anything about it. What gave you the confidence to actually take that leap of faith?

There was no Calabria olive oil in the U.S. which we thought was wild. I knew it could be successful but the way companies are run in Italy is very different than the way companies are run here in the U.S. Each has their shiny bits and each has their flaw. In California, they have wonderful olive oil. But what happens is a lot of Californian oils try to make it sound or be Italian — like a Tuscan blend oil — that’s not a real thing. It’s not going to be a Tuscan oil because we’re not in Italy. In order to clean up the industry, we need to clear up what we’re saying, it’s very misleading for the consumer. We need to be transparent; we need to state that it’s planted in California and we need to be proud of that and not make it something it’s not. We can’t grab the sun out of the sky and soil from the ground in Italy and plant it in California. That is very important as a producer. We wanted to bring oil from a region in Italy called Calabria and now we’re saying, here are the cultivars (varietals) we plant and here are the acidity levels - which version, regular, extra virgin, etc. We wanted to have a conversation about what the olive oil is which helped us believe in ourselves even more. It’s all about transparency and creating high quality products.

How has your brand evolved since you started EXAU?

It has expanded a lot in the sense that we’re not as restricted as we used to be. We thought we would be strictly Italian and have it be very limiting but that was naive of us because that’s not fun for our consumers or us. We want to have a luxury olive oil brand but at the same time not be too stuck up or exclusive. It’s not who we are as people, we don’t like to exclude others. We want to connect with customers. That can mean sharing cooking tips, behind the scenes of harvest, or everyday life in Calabia. We want to do this in a way that explains the why’s and the how’s. First and foremost EXAU is about helping educate consumers. 

The food industry is still a white male-dominated world. I know you’re a husband and wife team, but are there unique challenges as a woman in the business? 

This has been persistent, throughout my career. This has always been an issue. I’m very outspoken and have opinions about things. In the world of food, it is so white and we had so much trouble getting in the grocery stores. I understand they’re bombarded by brands everyday and can’t remember every single business that approaches them but we couldn’t even get an appointment. I would send emails from my husband’s email because they wanted to see the Italian name; I know exactly who I can call in the Bay Area who won’t take my call but they’ll take my husband’s call. I’ve had to deal with that a lot and it’s why we’re mostly ecommerce. The buyers wouldn’t take our calls so how do I get my product into a store? I said screw your store - we’ll sell online which is why we’re ecommerce only now. The way the grocery industry is set up, it’s not set up for us. It’s set up for big companies who can afford to lose a large profit margin. We can’t to lose such a large profit margin and we also can’t get into the store. Unless you have millions of dollars to invest, it’s very difficult.

How do you find separation during COVID where we’re all working so closely together?

There’s no separation. If I was still working in design, I wouldn’t be married now (laughing). I would say that it’s really great for us to work together, we’re not making computer parts or building light fixtures. The experience of cooking is already very wholesome and family oriented, it doesn’t feel foreign to be working with my life partner. Italians really work and live together 24/7. They’re a tribe - they love it. I think it makes us stronger as a couple and as a business. The only time our jobs are separated is during the production process. I try to harvest as much as I can in the fall, but I have marketing and branding to take care of which isn’t out with the trees. I do believe you never appreciate how hard someone else works if you’re not doing it yourself. This is why I try to be out in the trees 60% of the time.

Your business truly is a family affair with your husband, Giuseppe’s family members very much involved. Describe how that’s influenced your perception of what family means? 

I’m not very close with my family. My husband’s mom welcomed me into the family and they’ve been incredibly supportive. Harvest lasts from September until December every year so Giuseppe’s parents always come out and spend a couple of days harvesting with us from September to October. His mom cures olives in the traditional Calabrian way (olive schiacciate) and they’re delicious. Calabria is famous for making food sott’olio (under oil). It’s a family affair, Giuseppe is a third generation olive oil producer and our property is surrounded by his family members. Our estate is only a mile away from our house, we know everyone in our town. The town, Le Castella, only consists of 1,400 people so that helps us build that sense of community. I’m from Oakland, CA and I can’t go back without bumping into somebody from my community. We feel very protected and safe in Le Castella. Giuseppe’s friends will come help with bottling or packaging just to spend time with us and help us which is great. 

Prior to the pandemic, you and Giuseppe hosted several in-person events and trade shows for EXAU. How has the pandemic forced you to adjust your marketing tactics? 

We actually went mostly ecommerce last December so the timing was incredible for us - we launched the EXAU olive oil club and it sold out immediately. There was a big gap after holiday for wholesale season so we didn’t participate in any shows during that time. Ecommerce took on a life of its own and kept growing as we kept selling more products. We got our new products in March and are almost sold out - once we sell out of product, we can’t go out and buy more. We want our consumers to understand how the cycle of nature works. Our shows are actually cancelled until the end of next year. We do lots of our shows during the holiday season and now won’t have those interactions anymore. We also just moved from the Bay area to Austin, TX in January, we were rebuilding from the Bay area in Austin and it just didn’t happen. We were concerned at the beginning of covid but once we got our product it was fine. We rushed everything, got the memberships out, started selling, and sold out of several products. Now, I have less than 100 bottles left and we have to go back to Italy in September for harvest. The waitlist has started!

If you could go back and tell yourself one thing before starting your business what would it be?

Hire a developer for the website. I totally did it myself and this is a one woman show. The content portion is going really well right now but as far as the website goes, we’re handing that over soon and I can’t wait to never touch it again. We have a lot of customers tag us on social media so that helps us with content.