This Detroit, MI artisan pickle brand isn’t your traditional pickle company. Owned by two brothers, Joe and Bob McClure, who employ their parents and other close family members, McClure’s really is a family affair. The brothers, along with their parents, grew up making pickles using their great-grandmother’s recipe. They often gave the pickles as gifts to friends and family, and they were such a hit that people started to ask why they didn’t sell them. It took several years for the brothers to cultivate that idea, thus turning a family tradition into a family company. Now, McClure’s is sold in major grocery store chains, small shops and is featured on bar and restaurant menus, as well as sold internationally.
The company started in 2006, operating out of a 3,000 square foot facility in Troy, MI. It quickly expanded out of that space and currently reside in Detroit in a 20,000 square foot place with plans to expand another 20,000 square feet by 2017. In addition to an expansion in size, the company has plans to purchase more equipment to make the pickle processing and packaging lines a little more efficient. In fact, some of the new machinery is already in the company’s hands, but not yet installed on the line. We traveled to the McClure’s facility to see the line in action and in the hope of getting a pickle sample (spoiler alert: we did).