It began with Shai Tzabari making pickles using his Israeli grandmother’s salt brine recipe. Then he and his wife, Charlotte, started selling the tangy snacks on a stick at area farmers markets. in 2010.
On Aug. 15, Olive My Pickle began moving into a 54,000-square-foot production facility and warehouse at 7720 Philips Highway.
Their’s is a trinity of businesses under the company name Pickle Holdings Co.
• Olive My Pickle is the direct-to-consumer company that makes, packages and ships fermented products. Besides pickles, products include brine, sauerkraut, kimchi, olives, vegetables and hot sauces.
• The Pickle Factory at 5913 St. Augustine Road is a retail store that also served as its production facility before the move to Philips Highway.
• Because Pickles creates novelty clothing and tchotchkes to sell in the Pickle Factory and online.
Pickle Holdings Co. is gradually moving into the new space. By Aug. 20, the Tzabaris hope to have most of their 60 employees working in the new space and making and packing products.
“We’re kind of a bigger family-owned company now, but we were really small and scrappy forever,” Charlotte Tzabari said.
“That’s why we’re still so scrappy and frugal now. That’s just how we built this, dollar by dollar, day by day. We bootstrapped the company from day one.”
The brick-and-mortar Pickle Factory retail store will remain on St. Augustine Road, where the couple plan to double its size this year. There will be no retail sales out of the Philips Highway location.
With fermented products having a limited shelf life, the factory includes large cooling units to extend freshness.
Olive My Pickle products have health benefits, Charlotte Tzabari said. Research shows fermented products boost vitamin B levels, help the immune system, and aid in digestion and hydration. The lactic acid that is produced during the pickling process gives pickles their tangy flavor
Most pickles are made with a vinegar-based brine. Charlotte Tzabari said the salt water brine used in Olive My Pickle products provides more nutritional benefits.
She clarified that The Pickle Factory sells other products made by other companies that may be vinegar-based.
Charlotte Tzabari has been overseeing the final pieces of construction before employees can start at the new facility. Once a large, open warehouse space, the facility will serve as the Pickle Holdings Co. headquarters with offices and conference rooms in the entrance and lobby area with production in the back. Visitors are greeted by a large geometric mural painted by local artist Ansley Randall.
The cost to renovate the interior was more than $550,000.
Smarter Remodeling of Jacksonville, which worked with Charlotte Tzabari to design the interior, began work in June and created the interior in three months.
The Olive My Pickle brand began in the Tzabaris’ kitchen. Charlotte Tzabari has a marketing and sales background, having worked for Natural Life. Shai Tzabari is from Israel and has been self-employed.
The two will have been married for 25 years in December and have 19- and 16-year-old sons, who have been involved in the business since they were little.
As the company grew, the older Tzabaris learned about manufacturing. Shai Tzabari crafted his own machinery to handle jobs in the production process.
Pickle Holdings Co. takes steps to protect the environment, including using shipping boxes made from a biodegradable corn-based product.
Olive My Pickle expanded from farmers markets to finding shelf space in the former Lucky’s Market and Earth Fare grocery stores. Soon after, both stores left the market.
The company offers sales through its website and has a monthly newsletter. As with a wine club, customers can purchase products regularly without having to place orders one-by-one. There is no cost to participate in the club or service, and customers need not be a member to buy the company’s products.
Pickle Holdings Co. has more than 100,000 online customers in all 50 states, Charlotte Tzabari said. Each month, the company processes 10 to 12 tons of Kirby cucumbers that it purchases mainly from another family-run business, Southern Valley, in Norman Park, Georgia.
The Kirby varietal is smaller and makes for a crispier pickle, Charlotte Tzabari said.
While their products can be purchased via Amazon, the company does not ship through it. Everything is shipped out of Jacksonville using FedEx and UPS.
Besides eliminating an intermediary, e-commerce allows the company to interact with customers.
“I don’t want to hear any five-star reviews,” Charlotte Tzabari said.
“They’re nice. I want to hear the ones and the twos, because that’s where we need to roll up our sleeves and figure out where we’re going wrong and fix it. That’s how we’ve been able to build this quickly.”