Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/375622
P ickled Pink Foods, a specialty preserved products manufacturer based in Roswell, Ga., launched in 2013 with its Sweet Gourmet Pickle. The com- pany soon added two more products, Spiced Watermelon Pickles and Sweet Heat Jalapeños, under the Pickled Pink brand. A second line, called Simply Pickled, launched at the most recent Summer Fancy Food Show, featuring the same products but each in a larger 16-ounce size, packaged for upscale grocery. " Pickled Pink 's founders, Jim Lawlor and Charlie Stephenson, first began working together when Lawlor became the general manager for an Atlanta-area restaurant, of which Stephenson was a co- owner. At Pickled Pink, Lawlor runs the day-to-day operations and Stephenson, the majority owner, oversees finance. Stephenson is also the source of the original recipes. "Charlie hates—and I mean hates—pickles," Lawlor says, "but his wife would get a jar or two of these special pickles based on 110-year-old Huntsville, Ala., family recipes and Charlie would eat them up like they were candy. After getting ahold of the family recipes, we worked with an acquaintance, Lyda Burnett, who was the former head of the test kitchen for Southern Living Magazine." She told THE PANEL PHOTOS: INDIVIDUAL PRODUCERS THE STARTUP Pickled Pink Foods Founders: Jim Lawlor and Charlie Stephenson Products: Pickled Pink and Simply Pickled lines Founded: March 2013 Location: Roswell, GA Employees: 1 fulltime; Lawlor calls himself "the director of everything" BY DENISE PURCELL AND SUSAN SEGREST Harry T. Jones Blackberry Patch Carrie Morey Callie's Charleston Biscuits Matt Nielsen Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Pickled Pink Foods, a young company in the specialty food scene, asks veterans for advice on adding products, shipping challenges, and growing visibility. Pickled Pink Foods co-founders Jim Lawlor and Charlie Stephenson startup spotlight Preserving Purpose While Growing FALL 2014 129