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Home / Ferment Blog / We’re Going Co-op!

Posted October 10, 2012 by Dan

We’re Going Co-op!

by Dan and Addie

We have big news to share:  Real Pickles is becoming a worker co-operative!

Along with Real Pickles staff, we have been laying the groundwork for a co-op transition for a number of months now, and earlier this summer – during the UN’s International Year of Cooperatives – we officially decided to make the switch!  Everyone here is excited about the plan to convert Real Pickles to a worker co-op, and we will be working to make it happen over the next few months.  While the two of us will no longer be the sole owners of the business, we will continue to be part of Real Pickles as worker-owners and managers.  We think a worker co-op structure will be an outstanding way to help ensure that Real Pickles will succeed far into the future – producing delicious and healthy food for people and making a lasting contribution to building a new and better food system!

Why co-op?

We have worked hard over the last decade to build up our business: creating and scaling up our recipes, developing markets for our products, and educating folks about fermented pickles.  We have figured out how to manage the challenges posed by our commitment to sourcing locally – purchasing and processing our year’s supply of vegetables all within the short span of the New England growing season.  And three years ago, when we had completely outgrown the community kitchen we were using, we made the big leap to our own organic food facility.

Now, after eleven years in business, it is quite gratifying to be able to say that Real Pickles has achieved a certain level of success as an organic food business.  We are not making big bucks, but things are financially solid.  We have a fantastic staff of twelve.  We operate out of a 100% solar-powered, energy-efficient facility.  We are supplying over 300 stores around the Northeast with delicious, nourishing food.  And, we are supporting local farms with annual purchases nearing 200,000 pounds of certified organic vegetables.  Yes!

Where does one go from here?  These days, the typical path for a business like ours involves continued rapid growth followed by selling out to a large industrial food corporation.  Entrepreneurs who have gone this route will offer a variety of rationalizations for why such a move can be socially beneficial.  As we see it, leaving it to big corporations to run the world leads to very bad social outcomes.  As far as Real Pickles goes, our deeply socially-responsible approach to doing business doesn’t fit with big corporations’ drive for monetary profit.  We are committed to keeping Real Pickles a small business working to truly change the food system, and so we clearly must choose a different direction.

We have decided, then, to try to help re-write the standard storyline for a successful organic food business.  We are interested in creating a new structure for the business which will support both its continued financial success and success in contributing to a better world.  And, while neither of us have any plans to leave Real Pickles anytime soon, we want this structure to help ensure that Real Pickles can be viable in the long run by eventually coming to be able to thrive without dependence on its founders.

As we see it, a worker co-operative is the most promising structure for Real Pickles.  As a worker co-op, Real Pickles’ social mission and guiding principles will be inscribed in its articles of organization and bylaws, and be made difficult to change.  The business will stay rooted in the community.  Its owners will continue to be local residents who are directly involved in the day-to-day operations, and they will be highly unlikely to re-locate the business out of the area.  A worker co-op structure will also give members of our staff the opportunity to share in the decision-making and profits.  We expect this opportunity will serve as an important contributor to Real Pickles’ future success as it incentivizes our excellent staff to remain at Real Pickles on a long-term basis.

How will it work?

Five of us here at Real Pickles have made the commitment to sign on as founding worker-owners of the co-operative: Brendan Flannelly-King, Annie Winkler, Kristin Howard, and us (Dan & Addie).  Our hope is that additional staff members will join us following the transition.  According to our plan, staff will become eligible for worker-ownership following a year of employment at Real Pickles.  Once approved by the existing membership, a staff member will purchase one share of common stock in the co-operative, entitling him or her to a single vote in co-op affairs and to a share of the profits through annual patronage dividends.

As a co-operative, Real Pickles will be governed by the worker-owners via a board of directors.  On a day-to-day level, our current management structure will remain in place.  The business will continue to be managed in as participatory and inclusive a manner as possible, an approach which has been greatly successful in contributing to a satisfying and productive Real Pickles workplace.

This fall, we will be working through the remaining steps necessary to making our co-op transition happen.  A key task will be to raise additional funds so that the worker-owners can purchase the business.  As plans develop we will keep you updated, so stay tuned!  It’s an exciting time here at Real Pickles.  We are hopeful that at the end of this process – and the beginning of a new chapter – Real Pickles will be in an excellent position to be producing delicious and healthy food for people, providing meaningful and satisfying work for its staff, and making positive social change in the food system for many decades to come!


We are excited to announce the latest step in our plan to go co-op: An opportunity to invest in Real Pickles!  Offered to MA & VT residents, this is an excellent way to support our transition to a co-operative structure as well as our continuing work in helping to build a vibrant, regional, organic food system.  Read more:  www.realpickles.com/invest

Tagged: CO-OPERATIVES, PEOPLE-CENTERED, Real Pickles, small business, SOCIAL CHANGE, SOCIAL MISSION, WORKER CO-OPERATIVES

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cabbage CISA CLIMATE CHANGE CO-OPERATIVES COMMUNITY corporate food system cucumbers decentralization diversity EQUITABLE farmers Ferment fermentation fermented pickles food as a right Good Food Awards health health benefits investing LOCAL mud NEW ECONOMY Occupy Wall Street Old Friends Farm organic PEOPLE-CENTERED PEOPLE POWER pickle posse pickles Real Pickles recipes REGIONAL RESILIENCY sauerkraut SLOW MONEY small business SOCIAL CHANGE SOCIAL MISSION SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY stocking up sustainable tasting turmeric turmeric kraut WORKER CO-OPERATIVES
It is with great pleasure to introduce to you a Pi It is with great pleasure to introduce to you a Pickler you can’t help smiling around, meet Jess! Jess came to Real Pickles after years of doing seasonal work on vegetable farms and piecing together winter jobs. They loved the farm work but when they found Real Pickles 4 years ago they decided this was the place for them! 
Jess is a worker-owner with many important roles across each department at Real Pickles. In addition to being on our board of directors and working as a production assistant, they are also responsible for the seamless success of our shipping department, a job they make look effortless. On top of all that, Jess is also the assistant bookkeeper and a huge asset to the sales team!
If there is a birthday or an occasion to celebrate at Real Pickles, Jess makes sure to provide delicious treats that everyone can enjoy, no matter what their dietary needs are! When Jess is not at Real Pickles they are working hard at mastering the yoyo, learning to crochet small animals and collecting VHS tapes and other forms of obsolete media.
We love working with Jess and appreciate all that they bring to the Real Pickles family! 

#MeetThePicklers #RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #fermentedandraw #fermented #peekbehindthemask #organic #pickles #kraut #coop #workerowned #fermentation
YUM! 😋@wheelhouse.farm has paired our Organic G YUM! 😋@wheelhouse.farm has paired our Organic Garlic Kraut with some pork belly pastrami and rosemary on top of one of our favorite bakery's sourdough! 
Reposted from @cisa_localhero:
When #localrestaurants use hand-made ingredients from other #localfarms and #smallbusinesses, that’s a win for our community and our taste buds :) 
Bread by @riseabove_413 Photo by @wheelhouse.farm

#RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #fermented #raw #organic #garlickraut #repost #beautifulfood #hyperlocal #eatlocalfood #naturallyfermented #kraut  #fermentation #northeastgrown
It's Friday which means it's time to introduce you It's Friday which means it's time to introduce you to another member of the Real Pickles team! This week we'd like you to meet Fermentation Manager and worker-owner Katie Korby. In 2011, Katie was farming and looking for a part time job that she could feel good about. She knew she had found her people when, on her first day as a production assistant, folks broke into song while sweeping the floor during cleanup! Katie took some time off when her daughter was born and to help her husband, Stoneman, of @stonemanbrewery , start his brewery in their back yard. When she returned to Real Pickles she took on the role of Fermentation Manager. Katie oversees all aspects of our fermentation process; she tests each batch, develops new recipes, and implements food safety practices and certifications. 
When Katie isn't at Real Pickles she can be found tending her gardens, raising pigs and chickens, knitting, or hanging out and probably baking something with her 6 year old daughter Maggie. Katie is also one of the musicians on staff that play live music to our fermenting vegetables on a weekly basis! Maybe that is one of her secrets for producing such wonderful ferments! 

#MeetThePicklers #RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #fermentedandraw #fermented #peekbehindthemask #organic #pickles #kraut #coop #workerowned #fermentation
@nofamass presents “Food Security for the Common @nofamass presents “Food Security for the Common Wealth” 
Friday JAN 8 - Sunday JAN 10, 2021 
Virtual workshops, intensives, keynote speeches and an online auction with amazing items (including a Real Pickles sampler) to bid on! 
Event registration: https://cvent.me/ZQZ8Nm
Auction: https://go.rallyup.com/wcauction2021

#organicfarming #organic #northeastgrown #nofa #foodsecurity #workshop #auction #fundraising
#TopNine2020 - What a year! Big thanks and love to #TopNine2020 - What a year! Big thanks and love to our farmers, community, supporters and fellow fermenters. Our commitment for 2021 is to continue to promote human and ecological health by providing delicious, nourishing food. We wish everyone a healthy, peaceful, and joy-filled new year! 

#RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #WorkerOwned #naturallyfermented #organic #raw #kraut #pickles #cabbage #sauerkraut #fermentation #northeastgrown #goodfoodaward #cooppeople #gocoop #happynewyear
Make a resolution to start each day with vibrant a Make a resolution to start each day with vibrant and delicious ferments! Thanks @hannahhenderson_ for sharing this beautiful creation with us. Show us your breakfast!

#RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #fermented #raw #organic #avocadotoast #beets #turmerickraut #breakfast #kraut @ithacahummus

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