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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 Story

Our Story

Real Pickles is a worker co-operative working to change the food system by making pickles!  It all started when Dan Rosenberg began making traditional pickles in 1999 after attending a workshop at a Northeast Organic Farming Association conference. Excited about the benefits of locally grown food, he started pickling cabbage, turnips, greens, and other vegetables as a way to eat locally throughout the winter. Dan also got inspired by the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, a researcher who traveled the world in the 1920s and 30s studying the diets of indigenous peoples and who found that those eating traditional diets enjoyed a high level of health completely unknown in industrialized societies.

Dan quickly became devoted to the craft of traditional pickling and, two years later, decided to go into business.  The idea was to create a small company focused on building a better food system.  As one of a tiny handful of businesses producing raw, fermented vegetables, Real Pickles would offer an important and nourishing food that was largely missing from the food system. This new business would also be committed to local/regional food and organic agriculture.  Real Pickles would buy its vegetables only from Northeast organic farms and sell its products only within the Northeast.

Real Pickles launched in 2001, purchasing 1,000 pounds of certified organic pickling cucumbers from Chamutka Farm, and successfully selling its inaugural batches of Organic Dill Pickles to a couple dozen local stores. The following season, Real Pickles began operating out of the Western Massachusetts Food Processing Center in Greenfield, a business incubator kitchen created to boost the local agricultural economy by providing a venue for making value-added foods with local farm ingredients.  At the Food Processing Center, Dan – soon joined by Addie Rose Holland – was able to steadily grow the business, adding products like Organic Sauerkraut and Organic Ginger Carrots, and expanding sales to stores in the Boston area and then elsewhere around the region.

By 2009, Real Pickles had outgrown the incubator kitchen, and we were ready to make the leap to our own home.  We purchased a century-old industrial building in Greenfield, MA and transformed it into a solar-powered, energy-efficient, organic pickling facility.  The move allowed us to expand significantly, tripling our purchases from local farms in the years following.  We look forward to staying here for many years to come.

Meanwhile, we’ve demonstrated that there is a real and growing demand for raw, fermented vegetables and that a business as deeply committed to social responsibility as ours can work!  In 2013, we turned to preserving our social mission for the long term and – following a successful community investment campaign – took the exciting step of transitioning Real Pickles to a worker co-operative.  We are proud to join the ranks of other co-operatives that are supporting local ownership, workplace democracy, and contributing to the co-operative economy!

Read more about Real Pickles

Our Mission
Our Farmers
Our Co-operative
Our Facility

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We are so excited to see the delicious photographs We are so excited to see the delicious photographs that @newenglandfoodandfarm made while visiting Nick and his crew at @smetanafoodtruck earlier this month! You can almost taste the flavors of these "Modern Eastern European Fare" dishes that include Real Pickles Sauerkraut and Beet Kvass! If you aren't able to visit Smetana Food Truck (their schedule and location is on their insta page) - we hope you are inspired to create your own dish this holiday weekend! 

#RealPickles #kraut #organic #kvass
We are happy to report that the skilled farmers at We are happy to report that the skilled farmers at Mountain View Farm (and Dave Hayes the Weather Nut!) kept our baby cukes safe and warm during the recent freeze! Cucumber pickles will be back in early July!  #RealPickles #organic #NortheastGrown 

Posted @withregram • @mtviewfarm Here's a sunrise photo from this morning at 5:30 AM when we were out checking things. Temps got down to 25° but everything made it through OK. Thanks to our wonderful crew and all the people we consulted with including farm member and meteorologist Dave Hayes and Ben's mentor @michaeldocter50--what would we do without you?!?! 💛
We are SO excited to introduce our newest member-o We are SO excited to introduce our newest member-owner of our co-op, Craig Lavarreda! As the Real Pickles production manager, Craig keeps systems running smoothly and well-coordinated. He says, "I am excited to be part of a group with the same commitment, working towards the same goal and being part of the collective decision making.”. As a worker co-operative, Real Pickles is preserving our strong social mission, empowering our staff to direct the future of our business, and creating good local jobs with shared profits. We are proud to be part of a movement to build and strengthen democratic economies in our community and beyond. 

#RealPickles #WorkerOwner #Coop
This Thursday, join a workshop with Franklin Commu This Thursday, join a workshop with Franklin Community Co-ops, "Farm to Fermentation" with Real Pickles' very own Katie Korby and Kate Hunter! Learn about the importance of local organic farms and soil health and their connection to fermentation and a healthy gut microbiome. Katie will demonstrate a quick, spring time ferment in this informative and fun workshop! Thursday May 18th 6-7:30 170 Main St. Greenfield and online! Check bio for Zoom link on Thursday. 
#RealPickles #Fermentation #soilhealth #organic #northeastgrown #localfood
The pickle folks are so happy to be eating lunch i The pickle folks are so happy to be eating lunch in the sun! Enjoy the weather this weekend everyone! 😎
We think of Mother's Day as a time to celebrate an We think of Mother's Day as a time to celebrate and reflect on the role models in our lives.  If you are celebrating with a meal, consider this recipe where you can pile on your favorite Real Pickles ferments! This Garden Pilaf recipe is beautiful as a side or a main dish, plus it's loaded with flavor and packed with nutrients. Recipe link in bio.

#MothersDay #recipe #RealPickles #ferments #salad #organic

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

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