Photo courtesy of Brew City Pickles
There are few foods that don’t taste great pickled, which prompts Jessie Avery and Tony Galbari to constantly experiment with new pickling recipes to add to their Brew City Pickles product line of 25-plus items. In addition to classic or spicy dill spears, and the tartly sweet hamburger chip bread and butter pickles, they’ve got dilly beans, and pickled beets, mushrooms, asparagus, carrots and more. Their signature items like pickled sugar snap peas or scratch-made Bloody Mary mix have become favorites at area farmers markets and specialty retailers.
Both Avery and Galbari have backgrounds in banking. The couple began making pickles with Avery’s great-grandmother’s recipe. They were so well received within their circle of family and friends that they were inspired to test their pickles at the Oconomowoc Farmers Market. Soon there was a demand from market customers, as well as from bars and restaurants.
“We got to the point where we had to make a decision whether we wanted to leave our jobs and pursue this full-time,” Avery says. They chose the latter. As they made more money, they could no longer produce under Wisconsin’s ‘pickle bill,’ the state’s cottage food law that allows limited sales of home-canned foods to be made without a license. Brew City Pickles launched as a limited liability company in 2017, and Avery and Galbari found commercial kitchen space in Dousman, Wis. They also had to consider insurance, logos and labels, and licensing.
Galbari adds that neither one of them had backgrounds in food science or production, but they took classes in food processing at UW-Madison. There, they learned about ingredients labeling, weighing out raw goods, tamper evident seals and the “nitty gritty stuff” behind scaling up their hobby to commercial food production.
Growing the Product Line
Avery and Galbari started with the pickles and dilly beans. As they received recommendations from customers, they experimented with other pickling recipes. Their pickled mushrooms and Brussel sprouts are favorites with bar owners for use in cocktails. Avery isn’t aware of another company that makes pickled sugar snap peas, one of their signature products. Their Bloody Mary mix is garden fresh, made from tomatoes, bell peppers, parsley and other ingredients they blend themselves, instead of using a processed tomato juice base.
“We want to provide people with better tasting product, without chemicals,” Galbari emphasizes. “Our products don’t have nearly the amount of salt in them as store-bought brands.” They try to source local produce whenever possible but will sometimes get ingredients from produce distributors. Galbari says he enjoys experimenting with new products and they’ve recently branched out into Dill Pickle Popcorn, with white cheddar and dill flavor. They partnered with Cream City Caramels to produce a Dill Pickle Caramel.
Sampling at farmers markets and events is a main avenue for artisan food and beverage makers to introduce customers to their products, especially if they offer something unique. Although many area farmers markets are on schedule to open for the summer, the pandemic has forced organizers to make changes such as no social gathering or browsing, no dogs allowed and no food to be consumed on-site—which includes product samples. Avery and Galbari are considering options such as two-ounce sample cups with lids that will allow them to package sample-sized servings that can be stored in a cooler and given to people that want to try the products.
Being your own boss as a food entrepreneur involves long hours, including weekends, and sometimes an inconsistent paycheck, but Avery and Galbari don’t regret leaving their corporate jobs. The flexible hours allow them to spend more time with their four sons, who range in age 6 through 9. The kids also help spread the word about Brew City Pickles to their friends at school, and their parents become customers. “Brew City Pickles is a family brand. We want to focus on making a quality product that’s good and good for you,” Galbari concludes.
For more information, visit brewcitypickles.com.
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