Picklesmith Doesn’t Sour on Old-Fashioned Methods
Published May 27, 2008
Products ranging from garlic dill spears and stuffed jalapeno olives to prickly pear jelly and habanero pepper marmalade can be ordered online.
David Smith has been in a pickle ever since the 1995 Texas State Fair.
It was there that the owner/president of Picklesmith Inc. in Taft entered a prize-winning sweet pickle recipe, and he has been canning home-style fruits and vegetables ever since.
“My company is Texas-based, and I only use Texas agricultural products – plus we utilize old-fashioned canning methods that exclude preservatives, additives and artificial flavorings,” Smith says.
The company packages pickles, olives and relishes under the Picklesmith brand name, and jams, jellies and preserves under the Kay Dee’s Kitchen label. In 2007, the company introduced the Tres Corrales line of Mexican-style salsas.
“Our cannery and showroom/store are headquartered in Taft, and many of our sales occur online through our www.picklesmith.com Web site,” Smith says. “We only have two full-time and three part-time employees, but we do a lot of business.”
Besides making their own line of products, Picklesmith also handles canning for other small companies.
“For example, if a company has a salsa it wants to bring to market, it would send me the recipe and I would develop it, register it, test it, do all the manufacturing and put their product name on it,” Smith says. “This way, even though a food company might be in Kansas City or Denver or wherever, it could say that it was selling an authentic salsa that was made in Texas.”
Smith adds one final point about his company: It operates a terrorist-free kitchen. “The FDA mandated several food-processing safety steps after 9/11, which includes not allowing the public into a manufacturing facility and making sure products are never contaminated or tampered with,” he says. “It’s a very strict policy that protects consumers. That’s what is meant by operating a terrorist-free kitchen in America these days, and we follow those guidelines precisely.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
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