The archive · Small Business & Money · Product decision · 2008–2020
Grillo's Pickles: fresh pickles in clear tubs grow a Boston cart to $1M
Rejected by Nike, Travis Grillo sold his family's fresh, unpasteurized pickles in see-through deli tubs; Whole Foods found his cart and sales hit $1M by 2013.
Grillo's Pickles
What it had to solve
After failing to land a design job at Nike, Travis Grillo started selling his family's 100-year-old pickle recipe from a car, then a $1 pushcart in Boston Common in 2008. The big pickle brands were shelf-stable; he had no retail budget and no marketing dollars.
How it works
Travis Grillo wanted a design career at Nike, but after several interviews the company hired internally instead. Sitting in his father's backyard eating a homemade pickle, he decided to sell the family's 100-year-old recipe himself — first from a car in the summer of 2008, then from a hand-built pushcart in Boston Common selling spears for a dollar.
Grillo's was different by choice: the pickles were never boiled or pasteurized, so they had to be made cold, packed cold and kept refrigerated, with just seven natural ingredients. Instead of glass jars, he used clear plastic deli tubs — pre-sterilized, cheaper than glass, and the same packaging shoppers saw at farmers-market salsa stalls — which made the cold, fresh product look like what it was.
The formula worked without an advertising budget. Whole Foods discovered the cart and started stocking the pickles; by 2013 annual sales reached $1 million. In 2019 the company reported more than 5 million pounds sold through over 10,000 stores, while the clear tubs stayed so recognizable that customers joked about their famously tight lids.
Why it lands
- Skipping boiling and preservatives made the product objectively different in an aisle of shelf-stable giants, and refrigeration made that difference visible at the point of sale.
- Clear plastic deli tubs cost less than glass and still created a signature, farmers-market look with no packaging-design budget.
- A street cart let the product prove itself in person, so a national retailer discovered the brand rather than the other way around.
- Selling logo tees from the cart seeded brand memory long before the company could afford advertising.
What it did
Whole Foods buyers found him vending and took the brand into stores; sales passed $1 million a year by 2013, and by 2019 Grillo's sold more than 5 million pounds of pickles through 10,000+ retail locations including Walmart and Whole Foods.
What you can take
When the product is genuinely different, make the package prove it: a clear tub showing raw, cold pickles turns packaging into advertising and makes the freshness claim something shoppers can see.
Since then
By 2019 Grillo's was selling over 5 million pounds of pickles a year through 10,000+ stores and kept extending the line — sandwich-cut 'Sandwich Makers', Fresh Packs, and in 2020 a pickle beverage and Pickle De Gallo. The brand's packaging stayed part of its identity; in 2023 a company spokesperson told The Takeout it was finally working on tubs that are easier to open.
Sources
- How Grillo's Pickles went from a cart to more than 10K stores
- Grillo's Pickles Are So Hard To Open, But They're Worth It
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