Nader Akhnoukh of Wildly Virgin: 5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Food or Beverage Brand

As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nader Akhnoukh.

Nader Akhnoukh is the co-founder and CEO of Wildly Virgin. The company was born from a simple mission: to help more people experience the magic of authentic olive oil — handcrafted by small producers who have been perfecting their craft for generations. Unlike much of the world, Portuguese olive oil is still made this way, and the difference is palpable.

A former tech entrepreneur, Nader’s passion for olive oil ignited after relocating his family to Portugal. Driven by curiosity, he traversed the country, learning from local producers. His interest led him to pursue a degree from ESAO, the world’s oldest specialized olive oil school. The idea for Wildly Virgin crystallized during a conversation with his old friend and colleague, Riley Gibson, who had similarly fallen under olive oil’s spell.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

Growing up in an Egyptian family, food was always at the center of our lives. Dinner time was sacrosanct, and love was expressed through the preparation of elaborate meals. Our kitchen was constantly filled with the aroma of freshly cooked dishes. This early exposure to diverse flavors and ingredients sparked my curiosity about food and its cultural significance. As I grew older, I discovered my own passion for cooking and exploring new cuisines. Although I’ve only recently entered the food business formally, the interest has always been there.

Can you share with us the story of the “ah ha” moment that led to the creation of the food or beverage brand you are leading?

There wasn’t really a single “aha” moment for me, but rather a series of experiences that came together. After two decades in tech, I was itching for something different — something tangible that people could connect with on a more visceral level. When I moved to Portugal, I fell head over heels for the culture of beautifully crafted simplicity here. Olive oil, I discovered, was at the heart of it all, yet somehow still felt like a hidden gem.

As I dug deeper, I was blown away. Did you know there are olive trees in Portugal that are 2000 years old? These majestic trees have weathered empires and wars, and they’re still producing fruit! I wanted to experience them first hand.

I also learned about the incredible health benefits of high-quality extra virgin olive oil,packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Everyone raves about the Mediterranean Diet, but here’s the thing…if you actually spend time in the Mediterranean, you’ll see that olive oil isn’t just an ingredient, it’s the star of the show. Fish, veggies, potatoes — they’re all swimming in liquid gold. The Mediterranean Diet is an ode to olive oil.

The final piece fell into place when I read Tom Mueller’s eye-opening book, Extra Virginity. It exposed how corrupt much of the olive oil world is. Comparing that to the passionate, independent producers I met in Portugal, I realized just how special Portuguese olive oil truly was. That’s when I knew I had to start a business to share this magic with the world.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Living in Portugal has its charms, but the laid-back approach to business here can be quite an adjustment. I learned this the hard way with our olive oil production. Picture this: I’d found this amazing farm in Alentejo, hit it off with the producer, and we had what I thought was a solid plan to make olive oil together. It all seemed perfect — handshake deals, warm smiles, the works. Fast forward to when I’m all set with bottles and labels, ready to go, and I reach out to the producer. Plot twist: he’d sold all the oil! Turns out, what I saw as a firm agreement was more of a “we’ll see” situation here. It was a funny (and slightly painful) lesson in cultural differences and the importance of getting things in writing, even in the most charming of settings.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a food or beverage line? What can be done to avoid those errors?

One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen is overestimating your own preferences or taste and underestimating the importance of market research and product testing. It’s actually the same mistake I’ve seen countless times outside of the food industry as well. Many entrepreneurs are so passionate about their idea that they rush to market without truly understanding their target audience or validating their product. To avoid this, it’s crucial to gather feedback from potential customers and really understand what is driving their decision making process.

Another frequent error is neglecting the financial aspects of the business, particularly in terms of pricing strategy and cash flow management. It’s essential to have a clear understanding of your costs, margins, and pricing strategy from the outset.

Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to produce. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

Coming from the tech world, I’m a big believer in doing “customer development.” Let’s say your developing a new line of premium yogurt. Who are you targeting? Find some of those people and talk to them? What do they care about in yogurt? Interesting flavors? Health benefits? Do they have a brand they love today? Not only will this affect your product strategy, but also your messaging, go-to-market and even potentially sales channels. You can never talk to your customers enough.

Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?

Think through all the ways your idea could fail. If you’re honest with yourself, this list should be pretty long. Now prioritize the list in terms of greatest risk. So starting with the highest-risk items, think through how you can run a quick and cheap experiment to derisk or validate an assumption.

Before launching Wildly Virgin, we were experimenting with names and messaging to see how people would react to different directions. We ran cheap ad campaigns that just took you to a coming-soon landing page to see what would get clicks.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

I’ve experienced both bootstrapping and venture capital in my career. They’re quite different, so it’s crucial to understand the distinctions. Bootstrapping offers more control and flexibility, but may limit growth potential. If you manage costs well, you can grow at your own pace, though likely not as rapidly. Venture capital can fuel rapid scaling but often comes with expectations of exponential growth and some loss of control.

The most common mistake I’ve seen with raising VC is the impulse to spend once you have the money. This might translate to hiring sprees or increased marketing budgets. Many companies do this before they have clear evidence that such spending will translate into growth. A typical pattern emerges: some growth occurs, but not enough. You’ll likely need to raise more money and, before you know it, you own very little of the company you’re pouring your heart and soul into.

The decision ultimately depends on your goals, the nature of your product and the market opportunity. In the food industry, bootstrapping can be an excellent starting point. It allows you to test and refine your product, and establish some proof points before seeking larger investments.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Product Authenticity

In today’s world of mass-produced food with lengthy ingredient lists, consumers are yearning for authenticity. They want products with a story, where authenticity goes beyond taste to encompass values, origin and the people behind the product.

My move from Boulder, Colo., to Portugal opened my eyes to a world of olive oil far richer and more complex than I’d ever known. By partnering with João Mendes, our first producer, we’ve ensured that every bottle of Wildly Virgin embodies the spirit of the Alentejo region and João’s family’s craft. This genuine connection resonates with our customers who appreciate knowing their oil comes from a real place, made by real people.

2. Compelling Storytelling

Stories create a powerful bond between your product and customers. Sharing your journey, including the challenges and triumphs, can make your brand unforgettable.

Our story began with a leap of faith during the pandemic, relocating to Portugal. We embraced the uncertainty, and it became part of our brand’s DNA. By sharing our experiences — from meeting passionate producers to exploring ancient olive groves and immersing ourselves in Portuguese culture — we’ve connected with customers who value adventure and discovery as much as they appreciate exceptional olive oil.

3. Prioritizing Quality Over Scale

In a saturated market, product quality is paramount. Unwavering commitment to excellence can set you apart from the competition.

From day one, we aimed to make Wildly Virgin stand out. Every product decision prioritizes quality, even at the expense of scalability. We work with small, independent producers, harvest early to maximize health benefits despite lower yields and have a number of logistical challenges. While these choices may limit our growth, we believe they’re essential. After all, you can overcome scaling hurdles, but you can’t fake quality.

4. Building Community Through Transparency

In our interconnected world, transparency is crucial for building customer trust. Invite your audience behind the scenes, share your process and make them feel part of the journey.

We’ve made it a priority to involve our community every step of the way. Whether it’s through social media posts showcasing the harvest or emails detailing our challenges, we’re not just selling olive oil — we’re fostering a community that genuinely cares about and supports our brand.

5. Embracing Adaptability and Continuous Learning

Launching a food brand requires flexibility to respond to customer feedback, market trends and logistical hurdles. This can be particularly challenging in the olive oil industry, with its annual harvest cycle and long lead times for supplies. The key is to prioritize learning at every opportunity.

While outsourcing logistics to third-party companies is often more cost effective and efficient, we initially chose to handle packaging and shipping ourselves. By packing orders at Riley’s house, we could experiment with different inserts, packaging methods and surprise additions for customers. This hands-on approach taught us invaluable lessons about the customer experience and allowed us to refine our operations while maintaining a personal touch.

Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?

When you’re starting out it’s better to have 10 customers who love you than 100 customers who like you. You want to iterate on your product idea and get customer feedback until you find a core idea that people really love. A way to tell how much they love your product is to stop offering it for a bit and see how many people complain or reach out. Then once you find a small group that really love your offering, you need to understand what about it they love, and then you can grow by trying to find others who have similar needs or desires.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

In most of the world you can’t survive as a small independent olive farmer. The farms are getting purchased up by massive conglomerates and the fields replanted with olive varietals that can be harvested super intensively by machines. This is a problem for the livelihood of small farmers and it negatively impacts the diversity of olive varietals in the world, as there are only five or so varietals that can handle being machine harvested.

By telling the stories of the producers, regions and unique varietals, we are doing our part to elevate olive oil beyond a commodity to something of which people care about the details. This will ensure independent farmers and interesting olive varietals can survive and thrive for generations to come.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.