Seven of us, who have known each other for decades, make up the backbone of Apollo Olive Oil. It is exceedingly fortunate that we have complementary skills, for no one person could master all the facets of the business, from grove to customer. And it is equally fortunate that so many friends and family members lean in to help: the harvest season is so intense that loving support is an absolute necessity.

Gianni Stefanini runs the mill and overviews all aspects of operations. Having worked intensively with Marco Mugelli both in Italy and here, he is one of the most progressively trained millers in America. Born in Mantova, he emigrated here in the mid 1980’s and worked in the wine industry, acquiring skills which are highly adaptable to the making of olive oil.

Steven Dambeck is our well-traveled founding grower/miller. After traveling extensively around the Mediterranean, he developed a passion for olives and olive oil and trained as a miller in Provence. He has been farming organically in the Sierra Foothills since the late 1970’s and likes to tell and to hear everything about olive varieties, agricultural practices, pressing and storing and enjoying olive oil.

Pablo Voitzuk joined us from Argentina, bringing his devotion to the art of Slow Foods. His sensory abilities are highly refined, and he works closely with Gianni on all blending decisions. Recently, he passed the rigorous tasting tests to become an official taster for the California Olive Oil Council. Pablo represents Apollo in our local markets, from Santa Barbara to Seattle. With his unflagging enthusiasm, you'll find him in stores and at events, offering olive oil tastings and cooking classes. Many of the recipes here on our site are his personal creations.

Andreas Ponosyan started working with us at the stone mill as a teenager. Now he spells Gianni at the helm of the new mill, and spends the rest of the year blending, bottling and selling the award winning oils he knows so intimately.

Juan Jose Domingo remembers the stone mill in Spain where his family took their olives. Juan Jo has been farming organically in the Sierra Foothills since the mid 1980’s. Besides keeping a watchful eye on the orchards, he helps out with the olive harvest and milling during the quiet months of early winter. The rest of the year finds him out on the land as Steven Dambeck's right hand farming partner.

Behind the scenes everywhere, is Steve McCulley. Over a twenty-five year career as a small business consultant, he has helped people build successful businesses. After helping from the outside for a couple of years, he joined Apollo as a partner: making it the first business he is building from the inside. From merely consulting, he has become the mainstay of our back office – webmaster, accountant, shipper, and chief bottle washer.

Diana Stefanini, Gianni’s wife, was once upon a time a highly awarded wine-maker (she and Gianni fell in love in the wine cellar). Now she offers general support, from bringing lunch and taking notes to infusing the company with years of management experience.

Working together over the last decade, one lesson has deeply imprinted itself on all of us: that while the ancient olive, and all of its products, is the perfect foundation for a community, it is really the people – and the way they work together – that finally determines the quality and character of that community.

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