Niche Biz: Selling Pickles Online
On the surface, Rick Field, a Yale graduate and former TV producer, would not seem the most likely candidate to become a pickle peddler, much less spearhead a new pickling movement. But he has done just that. The entrepreneur behind Brooklyn-based Rick’s Picks is offering New-World twists on an Old-World condiment, inventing a whole new pickle palate in an industry whose heyday was a century ago — and creating a market in the process.
It started as a hobby. Field learned the art of pickling when he was growing up in Vermont. Inspired by the trend in ethnic food fusion, he infused his brine with new flavors and essences such as coconut and dried cherries, dreaming up innovative varieties of pickled cucumbers, cauliflower, and string beans.
Initially, Field gained a local following selling his wares at the Union Square Green Market in Manhattan and on his Web site. Culinary nods from New York magazine and Food & Wine soon followed, and Field found himself in the brine full-time.
Photo by Rick’s Picks.
jaeda on September 17th, 2008 4:05 pm
hmm that sound good to me, it’s good for salad too.
cassy on December 8th, 2008 9:46 pm
i love salad specially pickles, thanks for posting my favorate pickles.i cant wait to make salad for my dinner. sounds good. hehehehe! happy eating.
Leave a Reply