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Real Pickles

Northeast Grown, 100% organic, fermented & raw pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, kvass, and hot sauce

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Home / Our Facility

Our Facility

Energy Efficient & Solar Powered

We operate Real Pickles out of a solar powered, energy-efficient, 6,500 square foot organic pickling facility on Wells Street in Greenfield, MA.

In 2009, we purchased a century-old industrial building in Greenfield, MA and transformed it into a new home for Real Pickles. We made significant building renovations to minimize energy use and to prepare the space for certified organic food production. Two community loan funds – Franklin County Community Development Corporation and Equity Trust – helped to make the project possible, along with financing from our local community bank.  The move from the Western MA Food Processing Center (where we got our start) to our own organic pickling facility allowed us to expand significantly in the years following, and we look forward to staying here for many years to come!

Minimal Energy Use

We are proud of the many steps we have taken to make our facility as energy efficient as possible, including:

  • High efficiency lighting, including LEDs and high output T5 fluorescents,
  • Occupancy sensors and photo sensors (adjacent to skylights) to keep our lights operating only when needed,
  • On-demand, tankless water heater,
  • Freeaire system for our walk-in refrigerator, utilizing outside air during the winter months to keep things cool and reducing electric usage by an estimated 60%,
  • R40 ceiling insulation and mini-split heat pumps in our fermentation rooms.

Solar powered

Real Pickles and PV Squared owners with solar array
PV Squared and Real Pickles staff pose on the roof with our newest solar array! (Photo: PV Squared Solar)

We are excited to be supplying the majority of our electricity from solar panels installed on our rooftop!

Our efforts to maximize energy efficiency in the course of our building renovations have resulted in remarkably low energy requirements for a commercial facility of our size. In 2011 and 2019, we turned our efforts toward deriving as much of our remaining energy needs as possible from clean, renewable sources.  We hired Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics (a fellow worker co-operative that shares our building) to install two photovoltaic systems on our roof (17 kW in 2011 and 31 kW in 2019).  Our solar array provides all the electricity needs for both businesses!

By making our facility energy efficient and solar powered, we have taken small but important steps as a business to help move our society forward in pursuit of cleaner air, greater community self-reliance, and a more stable global climate.

Read more about Real Pickles

Our Mission
Our Farmers
Our Co-operative
Our Story

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It's Friday and time for another round of Meet the It's Friday and time for another round of Meet the Picklers! Today we would like to introduce one of the newest members of the production team, Madeline! Joining us recently from Asheville, North Carolina, Madeline brings with her many awe-inspiring stories including tales of bicycling across the country with her sweetie, Drew. The two of them biked 4,200 miles from Bar Harbor Maine to Astoria, Oregon making many new friends along the way! These days Madeline's adventures are mostly centered around her new rescue pup Luna and exploring New England. She loves working at Real Pickles and being a part of a mission-based business that is supporting local agriculture. We love that she has chosen Real Pickles as a place to call home! 

#MeetThePicklers #RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #fermentedandraw #fermented #peekbehindthemask #organic #pickles #kraut #coop #workerowned #fermentation
Looking for an easy way to add a little color and Looking for an easy way to add a little color and flavor to your morning? Try mixing in some nutrient-rich fermented veggies with your cream cheese or non-dairy spread! 
Bagels by our neighbor @riseabove_413 
Photo by @clarebarboza
#RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #WorkerOwned #fermented  #naturallyfermented #fermentation #organic #raw #kraut #pickles  #beets #carrots #cabbage #bagels #northeastgrown #recipe #breakfast
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

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Contact

311 Wells St
Greenfield, MA 01301
(413) 774-2600
info@realpickles.com

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