We were lucky to catch up with Jonathan Shrednick recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jonathan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Hello, I started making pickles for myself because I was unhappy with the selection of pickles in the supermarkets, I made a few jars of one kind, the Spicy Dill, but I wanted to bring some to my co-workers at a local restaurant that I worked for, just for them to try. They were like, “these are the best pickles I have ever had, please make me some” So of all of a sudden, I’m making a dozen or so for them, then 2 dozen because they wanted to bring them to their families. Then my wife brought some to her work and they wanted some. At this point I’m making 3-4 dozen at a time and selling it out of my car. I knew, I had something special. After doing this for a couple months, I reached out to a small Farmers Market in Hermosa Beach and asked them if I can sell my amazing pickles at their market. They said, yes.. but… I needed to find a commercial kitchen, get licensed, get a federal tax ID etc etc. Oh by the way, you need to make more than 1 pickle. So after months of getting everything together, coming up with a few other products, I was ready. That was in 2014. So from there, I just built the company on the success of multiple farmers markets, many more products, a better website and now, here we are.

Jonathan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been in the restaurant industry since I was a teenager. I opened a successful coffeehouse in Arizona in 2001 and sold it in 2010 to move to California for a better life. The previous question will answer a lot of how the company got started. Fast Forward to now, our credo is we are only as good as our last batch. That being said, it starts from sourcing the best produce I can find and being consistent with making sure all the other ingredients are the same since day 1. Same apple cider vinegar, same “day of pickling” hand blended spices, California garlic, and always using sea salt. I’m most proud of keeping pretty much the same staff since expansion who hand packs everything I make.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Our Social Media is very strong for a company my size. I owe that all to my social media guru Meghan Lamontagne, she gets me and our company’s goals. My advice is to never stop being in front of your audience, they always want to see what’s next. Also, get someone that knows how it all works.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

I funded my business by being small, staying within my means, bootstrapping by using credit cards for large expenses. One farmers market, then 2, now 10, and a flourishing online business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.completelypickled.com
• Instagram: @pickledudeguy
• Facebook: Completely Pickled
• Youtube: Completely Pickled
• Other: tiktok-Completely Pickled

Image Credits

none