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Home / Ferment Blog / Real Pickles: Financing Case Study

Posted November 21, 2013 by Real Pickles

Real Pickles: Financing Case Study

Community Investment in the Local Food System

How a small local food business in western Massachusetts preserved its social mission through transitioning to a worker-owned cooperative and using an innovative financing strategy.

Authored by:

Jonathan Ward, Special Projects Intern, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)

With significant contributions from:

Margaret Christie, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)
Addie Rose Holland & Dan Rosenberg, Real Pickles
Jeff Rosen, Solidago Foundation
Sam Stegeman, Pioneer Valley Grows (PVGrows)

Download the full 12-page case study

Abstract
Worker-owners with fresh cucumbers at Real Pickles in Greenfield. Photo: Real Pickles
Worker-owners with fresh cucumbers at Real Pickles in Greenfield. Photo: Real Pickles

“We’re re-writing the standard storyline for a successful organic food business,” says Dan Rosenberg, founder of the twelve-year-old Greenfield, Massachusetts company Real Pickles, which makes naturally fermented and raw pickles from regionally-grown vegetables in a 100% solar-powered facility. Instead of selling their growing company to a large industrial food corporation, as happens so often with successful natural products businesses (think: Odwalla, Naked Juice, Tom’s of Maine, Stonyfield, and so on), Rosenberg and his wife Addie Rose Holland (who had joined him in running the business in 2004) went the other direction, deciding to keep Real Pickles small, locally owned, and mission-driven. In late 2012, Rosenberg and Holland formed a worker-owned cooperative with other staff members, and funded the co-op’s purchase of the business through a highly successful community investment campaign that raised a half-million dollars.

Transitioning to worker-ownership gave the company a way to protect its social mission. Since its founding, Real Pickles has been committed to promoting human and ecological health by providing people with delicious, nourishing food and by working toward a regional, organic food system. In order to help ensure that this mission would continue, the worker-owners inscribed these principles in the co-op’s organizing documents, and made them very difficult to change. Still, even after organizing the cooperative structure, the worker-owners needed to raise a half-million dollars to buy the business from Rosenberg and Holland. They considered a number of options for financing, from subordinated debt to equity. In making these decisions, the worker-owners drew from the experience that one of them had had working with Equal Exchange, a successful cooperative that has a long history of raising capital by selling non-voting preferred stock. Later, they sought the expertise of the PVGrows collaborative network in western Massachusetts. A financing expert in PVGrows also connected Real Pickles to Cutting Edge Capital, a pioneering law firm in the Bay Area that helped them navigate many legal hurdles. In the end, the worker-owners decided that the best way for them to raise $500,000 was to sell non-voting preferred stock through a direct public offering. Real Pickles officially launched a community investment campaign in March 2013. Astonishingly, in just two months, the campaign was over. Seventy-seven investors – a mix of individuals, customers and suppliers, even a number of other co-ops – together invested $500,000, which allowed Real Pickles to fully transition to worker-ownership.

With interest growing in scaling up local food systems, the story of Real Pickles’ co-op transition and community investment campaign offers important lessons. Communities need businesses that can model ways to stay small, vibrant, and locally owned. This story is both inspirational and rich in technical detail so that others can speak about it, replicate it, and, ultimately, build upon it to fit their own visions of resilient local economies.

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We’re a 15 Years of Good Food Awards Winner! 🥇
Real Pickles Organic Sauerkraut has been officially crowned a winner in the Pickles Category of @goodfoodfdn’s 15 Years of Good Food Awards. 
We’re honored to be recognized alongside so many exceptional crafters—and we couldn’t have done it without you!
#goodfoodfdn #goodfoodawards #15yearsofgoodfood #RealPickles #OrganicSauerkraut #PackedWithAMission
🥒 It’s that time again…. Pickle season has 🥒 It’s that time again…. Pickle season has begun! Our kitchen crew is in full swing - slicing, spicing and brining organic cukes from Mountain View Farm. Just a couple of short weeks before we are all enjoying this year’s batch of Organic Dill Pickles! 🥒 
#organicpickles #fermentedpickles #pickles #realpickles #organic #cucumbers @mtviewfarm
Join our team! Real Pickles is seeking a highly qu Join our team! Real Pickles is seeking a highly qualified individual who is inspired by our mission and interested in exploring worker-ownership in our co-op to fill the role of Sales Representative & Marketing Assistant.
The Sales Representative & Marketing Assistant supports Real Pickles sales and marketing efforts by maintaining strong customer relationships, promoting brand awareness, and ensuring excellent customer service.
This role involves a balance of inside and outside sales, customer support, marketing content development, and occasional participation in public events and product demonstrations.
We’re looking for a proactive, detail-oriented individual with strong communication skills and a passion for organic and local food.
See full job description and how to apply at realpickles.com/jobs — link in bio!

#RealPickles #coopjobs #westernmassjobs #joinourteam #workerowned
We’re honored to receive this year’s local bus We’re honored to receive this year’s local business Austin Miller Co-op Hero Award! 
Thank you to @rivervalleycoop for the generous recognition and for hosting such a heartwarming event last week. We’re proud to be part of a vibrant community of co-ops, farmers, and change makers working toward a just, sustainable, and resilient local food system.

Repost from @rivervalleycoop
•
Thank you to all who attended and worked at our 2025 Strawberry Ice Cream Social Fundraiser. It was a wonderful evening on June 12th at our Easthampton store, celebrating the start of the local summer harvest season and supporting the Center for New Americans. Nearly 800 people attended this patio party throughout the evening, purchasing burgers, grilled corn on the cob, salads, and Strawberry Ice Cream Sundaes. This resulted in raising a total of $10,953 for the Center for New Americans. This is a record high for this fundraising patio party! 

🍓 Read more of RVC’s 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗜𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 + 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 recap by visiting the link in their bio 🍓

@cnaforimmigrants 
#foodcoops #communitylove #supportforimmigrants #strongertogether
🌈🥒 Rain or shine, Real Pickles shows up with 🌈🥒 Rain or shine, Real Pickles shows up with PRIDE! We had an amazing time marching in the Franklin County Pride parade this weekend — umbrellas, ponchos, and all. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate love, community, and inclusion with us! And thank you to the amazing team at @franklincountypride for working so hard and making this event happen! 
🤍🩷🩵🤎🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
#RealPickles #pride
✨We’re a finalist!✨ Real Pickles Organic Sau ✨We’re a finalist!✨
Real Pickles Organic Sauerkraut just earned a spot as a finalist in the Pickle Category of @goodfoodfdn’s 15 Years of Good Food Awards.
This special Community Choice edition of the Good Food Awards honors past winners that continue to set the standard for taste, craftsmanship and responsible production. For the first time ever, the good food loving public had a say, submitting over 8,000 ballots to support their favorite producers.
We’re honored to be recognized alongside so many exceptional crafters—and we couldn’t have done it without you!
Winners will be announced, June 28 at Good Food Mercantile NYC.
#goodfoodfdn #goodfoodawards #15yearsofgoodfood #realpickles #packedwithamission #organic #sauerkraut

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