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Real Pickles

Northeast Grown, 100% organic, fermented & raw pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, kvass, and hot sauce

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Home / Community Investment Campaign

Community Investment Campaign

May 2013

Thanks to support from our community – We’ve gone co-op!

Real Pickles is re-writing the standard storyline for a successful organic food business: We’re staying small, independent & locally-owned. We’re securing our social mission for the long-term. We’ve become a worker-owned co-operative! (Read more about it on our blog.)

We are proud to report that in 2013, as part of our plan for transitioning Real Pickles to a worker-owned co-operative,  we launched a community investment campaign and successfully raised $500,000 in investments (in only 2 months!).

We want to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to the 77 individuals and organizations throughout MA and VT who chose to make an investment – and to countless others for your invaluable words of wisdom and encouragement. We’re so appreciative of all the many ways in which our community has made it possible for Real Pickles to take this exciting step.

Our official transition to a worker-owned cooperative happened May 9th, 2013 … Hurray!!

Interested in other investment opportunities?

It’s become clear in the course of this campaign that there is a significant and growing interest in investing locally and responsibly. We think this is a hugely important trend and want to let you know about some other organizations offering opportunities in our region these days:

  • Equity Trust
  • Cooperative Fund of New England
  • Common Capital‘s Community First Fund
  • Co-op Power

Also, Western MA folks interested in local investing opportunities should keep tabs on the Slow Money Pioneer Valley Chapter, a working group of PVGrows. Their mission: “The Slow Money Pioneer Valley Chapter catalyzes community-based investment in the local food system by connecting investors, farmers and entrepreneurs in order to strengthen our local and regional food economy.”

A special thanks to Cutting Edge Capital for their extensive help in developing our community investment campaign. They are assisting many businesses in raising capital from their local communities.

Want to read more?

Here’s a list of posts that have been written during our process and transition. Enjoy!

  • Oct 9, 2012: We’re going co-op! (Dan and Addie Rose)
  • Dec 12, 2012: Why I want to be a worker-owner… again (Kristin Howard)
  • Mar 16, 2013: A community perspective: Keeping it Local! (Margaret Christie)
  • Apr 8, 2013: A community perspective: Investing in a better food system! (PV Slow Money Chapter)
  • Aug 15, 2013: Real Pickles and the Path to a Co-operative Economy (Erbin Crowell)
  • May 13, 2014: One Year as a Co-op (Kristin Howard)

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What a FUN weekend! Thanks to everyone who braved What a FUN weekend! Thanks to everyone who braved the nor'easter and came out to the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival! Even with the wind and rain we had a blast meeting you all and sharing our garlicky ferments. Endless thanks to the organizers and volunteers @garlicandarts for all their hard work and perseverance through the wild weather. See you next year! #RealPickles #weatherornot #garliclovers #garlicandartsfestival
Big news for garlic lovers! You won't start seeing Big news for garlic lovers! You won't start seeing them at your local market until after next week, but you can find this season's fresh batch of Organic Garlic Dill Pickles at the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival in Orange MA this weekend! Rain or shine, come see us Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm and get your garlic on! #RealPickles #garlicandartsfestival #garliclovers #westernma #localart
What a way to start the work week! Ginger the mona What a way to start the work week! Ginger the monarch butterfly emerged this morning from their chrysalis. Such a treat to see this transformation happen right in front of us (swipe to see it too!) Nature is amazing 🦋 #RealPickles #locallygrown
Let’s do it! It’s kimchi making season at Real Pic Let’s do it! It’s kimchi making season at Real Pickles! #NortheastGrown #Organic #kimchi
Here at Real Pickles we are aflutter with exciteme Here at Real Pickles we are aflutter with excitement! A monarch butterfly chrysalis has attached to the front of our building, and a monarch caterpillar was seen crawling nearby as well. Are you as excited as we are to see these beauties emerge? We have dubbed them Ginger and Rosemary. Stay tuned for updates from the lepidopterarium! #realpickles #locallygrown
Happy birthday to us! This Summer Real Pickles ce Happy birthday to us! 
This Summer Real Pickles celebrates a quarter century of making our locally-sourced, healthy and delicious organic fermented veggies. We may have grown, but we remain committed to our mission of building a just, sustainable and democratic economy through our worker-owned cooperative model and our partnerships with Northeast organic farmers. 
Thank you for being part of our story for the last 25 years, and here's to many more years of fantastic fermentation! 
#RealPickles #northeastgrown #organic #workerowned #gocoop 
Photo of Real Pickles worker-owners courtesy of @westernmaphoto

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311 Wells St
Greenfield, MA 01301
(413) 774-2600
info@realpickles.com

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