We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alex Skrzypczyk and Brian Greene. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brian, Alex below.

Brian & Alex, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The idea for our business came out of being stuck at home during the pandemic in 2020. As classically trained chefs, we were both used to working long hours in a kitchen and we suddenly found ourselves with more time than we knew what do do with, so we spent our time at home doing what we do best – cooking.

We started making pickles and giardiniera at home as a way to keep our idle hands busy and then would jump in the car and drop them off all over Chicago to our friends and family.

We knew we were on to something when our loved ones would reach out to us asking for more pickles. This was when we thought about seriously turning this idea into a business and Pickled Prince was created. Pickled Prince was our side hustle and passion project while we continued to work our full time restaurant jobs.

We started by sharing a table with another vendor during our first farmers market in 2021. In 2022, we had our own farmers market table and most recently in 2023, we were able to participate in five farmers markets during the outdoor season and are excited to say this is our full time job! Not only do we make pickles and giardiniera, but we have been able to expand our business to also make hot sauces, preserves and more. You can also find our products on restaurant menus and in stores throughout the city!

While we are not reinventing the wheel by making pickles, what makes Pickled Prince products special is that we work with local farmers to source as much as we can during the season to create our products. Seasonality is important to us and allows our creativity to shine which is why besides a few staples, our offerings are always changing.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We are both classically trained chefs that have worked in restaurants all over Chicago. Both of us have an incredible passion for food and working with seasonal ingredients so starting a business like Pickled Prince where we preserve the best of the season just feels like what we are meant to do.

The beauty is that we still get to be creative day to day and the possibilities of products we can create feels endless which keeps us both excited.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

We are both chefs in Chicago. Our paths crossed when Brian was the Chef de Cuisine at Half Acre Beer Company and Alex was the sous chef at Sunday Dinner Club. Once a month, Sunday Dinner Club would come takeover the taproom on Mondays when Half Acre was closed to do a pop up menu.

Our paths crossed when Brian would be there Mondays doing inventory and Alex was cooking up the pop up menu and the rest is history!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I think the best we can give here is to not get discouraged. Social media is a lot of work! It’s not all about likes. People may not be liking everything but they will always be watching. Stay true to yourself and your brand and as you continue to expand, people will see all the hard work you are putting in.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.pickledprince.com
• Instagram: @thepickledprince
• Other: Email : [email protected]