{"id":423567,"date":"2026-10-09T19:22:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T19:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/423567\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T19:22:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T19:22:20","slug":"from-a-family-recipe-to-40000-packages-a-week-the-pickle-factorys-jacksonville-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/423567\/","title":{"rendered":"From a family recipe to 40,000 packages a week: The Pickle Factory\u2019s Jacksonville roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 At The Pickle Factory<\/a>, the pickle can be a snack, a gift \u2014 even a toy. But behind the bright barrels and novelty goods is a family story that began with a garden in Israel, and a manufacturing process that relies on careful measuring, testing and time. <\/p>\n

Pickles are having a moment beyond the jar. The Wall Street Journal<\/a> reports sales of pickle-flavored snacks surged 30% over the past year, with the flavor popping up in everything from ramen and ice cream to toothpaste. <\/p>\n

In Jacksonville, that growing appetite has helped fuel a business built around all things pickle. <\/p>\n

Charlotte Tzabari and her husband, Shai, started selling pickles at Northeast Florida farmers\u2019 markets after Shai began making them to reconnect with the food he grew up eating at his grandmother\u2019s home. <\/p>\n

As a boy, he picked vegetables from her garden; the family turned them into pickles on the kitchen counter. <\/p>\n

That kosher dill recipe, Tzabari said, has been passed down through six generations. It remains Olive My Pickle<\/a>\u2019s top seller. <\/p>\n

From under the bridge to a pickle superstore <\/p>\n

Before there was a factory or a retail shop, the family spent years selling pickles and olives at the Riverside Arts Market and other farmers\u2019 markets around Northeast Florida. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were farmers\u2019 markets only\u201d for the first eight years, Tzabari said. <\/p>\n

The family initially tried growing vegetables, too, but customers kept gravitating toward the pickles. <\/p>\n

They began with a few products, then added sauerkraut, kimchi and other items in response to shoppers\u2019 requests. <\/p>\n

Today, the family operates two brands. Olive My Pickle<\/a> makes fermented products, including pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi and olives. <\/p>\n

The Pickle Factory<\/a> sells its own vinegar-based pickles alongside the fermented products and a wide range of pickle-themed merchandise. <\/p>\n

The first Pickle Factory store opened in Jacksonville in October 2024, Tzabari said. A larger St. Augustine store followed. Inside, shoppers can find pickled vegetables, pickle juice, snacks, gifts and novelty items \u2014 including pickle cotton candy, pickle candles and a yodeling pickle. <\/p>\n

\"\"The Pickle Factory has a tasting bar, where customers can sample products before buying. (WJXT)<\/p>\n

The store also has a tasting bar, where customers can sample products before buying. <\/p>\n

Fermented pickles use a saltwater brine, while the company\u2019s vinegar pickles get their acidity from vinegar. Tzabari described the difference as a milder, more complex flavor in the fermented products and a sharper bite in the vinegar pickles. <\/p>\n

Why fermented foods are drawing interest <\/p>\n

Tzabari said interest in fermented foods and gut health grew during the years the family was selling at markets.<\/p>\n

She said customers increasingly came in with questions about probiotics and microbiomes. <\/p>\n

Fermented foods contain live cultures, but specific health effects can vary. Tzabari said she sees the products as part of a broader consumer interest in gut health, not just a reason to eat pickles. <\/p>\n

For people unsure how to try fermented foods, she pointed to the company\u2019s pickle juice, which customers often drink by the shot. Its flavors include dragon fruit and strawberry. <\/p>\n

The science \u2014 and patience \u2014 behind each batch <\/p>\n

At Olive My Pickle\u2019s manufacturing facility, production has grown far beyond the five-gallon batches the company once made for roadside and farmers market sales. <\/p>\n

Operations Director Bryan French said the facility now produces about 40,000 to 43,000 finished units a week. It processes about 15 tons of cucumbers weekly \u2014 roughly 30,000 pounds \u2014 and sends between 5,000 and 6,000 orders to customers each week. <\/p>\n

\"\"Operations Director Bryan French shows News4JAX anchor Joy Purdy behind the scenes of The Pickle Factory. (WJXT)<\/p>\n

The company ships nationwide, except to Alaska and Hawaii; French said about 98% of its business is direct to consumers. <\/p>\n

Cucumbers go through a washing machine that uses a vegetable-wash solution, then move along a conveyor into tubs. The washer helped cut cucumber processing from a two-day job to about five hours, French said. <\/p>\n

Other steps remain hands-on. Cabbage is cored and sliced for sauerkraut, and ingredients are weighed batch by batch. <\/p>\n

Salt must be measured carefully: French said too little can prevent proper fermentation, while too much can stop it. <\/p>\n

The products ferment at controlled room temperature for three to 28 days, depending on the item. During that process, naturally occurring bacteria produce lactic acid. The facility checks and records each batch\u2019s pH and quality, and tracks products by lot code. <\/p>\n

French said the company aims to keep its products below a pH of 4.1, with 4.6 as the upper threshold it monitors. The long fermentation time also means the company keeps a reserve of product: if a batch fails its quality check, a replacement cannot be ready overnight. <\/p>\n

After fermentation, products are moved into cold storage. They are then packaged, checked and packed with insulated liners and gel packs for shipping. <\/p>\n

Most packaging had been done by hand; during our tour, the company was preparing to bring an automated packaging machine online for sauerkraut and olives. <\/p>\n

\"\"The first Pickle Factory store opened in Jacksonville in October 2024. (WJXT)A family business that keeps expanding <\/p>\n

Tzabari said the company\u2019s product line has grown in part because customers ask for new flavors and ideas. One seasonal favorite is a Thanksgiving sauerkraut inspired by stuffing, French said. <\/p>\n

The family\u2019s story is very visible in the store: Colorful barrels from the farmers market days and photographs tracing Shai\u2019s family and the pickle-making tradition. <\/p>\n

The business has grown from those early market mornings, but its signature pickle still comes from the recipe that started at a grandmother\u2019s kitchen counter. <\/p>\n

You can watch my full conversation with Charlotte Tzabari and Bryan French on my new streaming show. You\u2019ll find it and conversations about other topics making headlines at 3 p.m. Thursdays on News4JAX+<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 At The Pickle Factory, the pickle can be a snack, a gift \u2014 even a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[558,502,1917,10001,116,118,117,2159,166942,6652,4946],"class_list":["post-423567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-business","tag-community","tag-consumer","tag-feature","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-money","tag-olive-my-pickle","tag-small-business","tag-the-pickle-factory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}