Producer
DJ's Pickles LLC
Contact: Donald Paleno and Heather Bauer
Address: 570 Brevard Road #2 Asheville, NC, 28806
Phone: 828-647-0357
Website: www.djspickles.com
About Us
DJ’s Pickles is an artisan pickling company based out of Asheville, NC that manufactures small-batch, chef-crafted pickles with a variety of fresh produce brined with unique flavor profiles and inspired by the rich agricultural community of western North Carolina.
We operate a brick-and-mortar retail shop out of the WNC Farmers Market, where we also produce our products from a commercial kitchen certified by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and the Health Department. We have ten regular products and provide seasonal specialties as a growing niche manufacturing business within the specialty food industry. We work with many local farms and businesses for sourcing produce, partnering on special events and collaborative projects, community engagement, and advocacy for food justice.
We wholesale to more than thirty regular businesses across western North Carolina, Charlotte, and in upstate South Carolina. We participate in community tailgate markets, festivals, and tradeshows where we successfully sell our product and gain new customers for return business via e-commerce, our retail shoppe and other strategic retail partner locations. We provide shipping and fulfillment through our e-commerce site throughout the United States (www.djspickles.com). Our Mission: To cultivate the tradition of pickling in modern culinary practice to reduce food waste, inspire communities, and enhance food systems with integrity, purpose, and vision.
Our Values: Our values set the tone for all that we do and how we do it, from product creation to ongoing customer service. We value the land, the hands and other gifts that we are given to be able to support our craft. Peace, love and pickles.
Sustainability - We are committed to reducing food waste, enhancing food systems, and using earth-friendly containers and other supplies to the greatest extent feasible. We provide food scraps to local farmers, accept “ugly” produce in edible condition so that it is not thrown away, and we work to educate the community on home-pickling. We have a jar buy-back program, where jars can be returned to us for discounts; we accept returns of some of our other product packaging, such as wholesale buckets. We reuse and/or recycle packaging when appropriate and collect/transport our own recycling to a nearby location. We work to reduce our footprint through consolidated deliveries and fuel-efficient travel.
Community - We believe in the power of communities. We volunteer our time, make charitable donations, provide education and demonstrations, participate in local business groups and frequent community-building events, are equity advocates for food security, participate in many local tailgate markets and find purpose and meaning in how we communicate with and represent our community. We host students from elementary to university-level, unite people of diverse backgrounds, provide sponsorships and assist in projects that are important to our community.
Collaboration - We are committed to working to lift up other businesses, share ideas and concepts, cross-promote products/services and leverage resources for a more unified local business community.
Discipline - We work hard, growing in ourselves and in others to refine and continue to develop the skills and resources we need to be viable. We take consistent action to work toward our aims, make decisions, and adapt as needed to move from surviving to thriving.
Entrepreneurial Spirit - We know that being an entrepreneur takes grit and courage, as well as a multitude of other skills and commitments. With this spirit, we can keep a positive attitude, a growth mindset, be ruggedly flexible, and not be afraid to make mistakes. We are solution-oriented, customer-driven and see ourselves as part of the economic health and well-being of the areas we serve. We are committed to enhancing our abilities and ensuring we are positioned where we are most valuable.
Family - We are a family-owned and operated business that dreams of one day being a much larger employee-owned company that puts family first through our commitment to our own loved ones, to our customers who rely on us to produce the healthiest and highest quality product, and to those who will one day be our successors.
Fun - DJ’s Pickles is known to love to see people smile. We are a high-touch business that is fueled by having fun whenever we can, including turning bad days into learning experiences. We are colorful in our brand, enjoy giving our products “personalities” that come through in the way they are named and how they taste, and how we represent our brand in the community.
Integrity - DJ’s Pickles is committed to honesty, authenticity, and accountability in all that we do.
Purpose - We are driven to take the generational practice of pickling and keep it relevant in today’s world for a more sustainable future. We are guided by our values to fulfill our mission in honor of our vision.
We operate a brick-and-mortar retail shop out of the WNC Farmers Market, where we also produce our products from a commercial kitchen certified by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and the Health Department. We have ten regular products and provide seasonal specialties as a growing niche manufacturing business within the specialty food industry. We work with many local farms and businesses for sourcing produce, partnering on special events and collaborative projects, community engagement, and advocacy for food justice.
We wholesale to more than thirty regular businesses across western North Carolina, Charlotte, and in upstate South Carolina. We participate in community tailgate markets, festivals, and tradeshows where we successfully sell our product and gain new customers for return business via e-commerce, our retail shoppe and other strategic retail partner locations. We provide shipping and fulfillment through our e-commerce site throughout the United States (www.djspickles.com). Our Mission: To cultivate the tradition of pickling in modern culinary practice to reduce food waste, inspire communities, and enhance food systems with integrity, purpose, and vision.
Our Values: Our values set the tone for all that we do and how we do it, from product creation to ongoing customer service. We value the land, the hands and other gifts that we are given to be able to support our craft. Peace, love and pickles.
Sustainability - We are committed to reducing food waste, enhancing food systems, and using earth-friendly containers and other supplies to the greatest extent feasible. We provide food scraps to local farmers, accept “ugly” produce in edible condition so that it is not thrown away, and we work to educate the community on home-pickling. We have a jar buy-back program, where jars can be returned to us for discounts; we accept returns of some of our other product packaging, such as wholesale buckets. We reuse and/or recycle packaging when appropriate and collect/transport our own recycling to a nearby location. We work to reduce our footprint through consolidated deliveries and fuel-efficient travel.
Community - We believe in the power of communities. We volunteer our time, make charitable donations, provide education and demonstrations, participate in local business groups and frequent community-building events, are equity advocates for food security, participate in many local tailgate markets and find purpose and meaning in how we communicate with and represent our community. We host students from elementary to university-level, unite people of diverse backgrounds, provide sponsorships and assist in projects that are important to our community.
Collaboration - We are committed to working to lift up other businesses, share ideas and concepts, cross-promote products/services and leverage resources for a more unified local business community.
Discipline - We work hard, growing in ourselves and in others to refine and continue to develop the skills and resources we need to be viable. We take consistent action to work toward our aims, make decisions, and adapt as needed to move from surviving to thriving.
Entrepreneurial Spirit - We know that being an entrepreneur takes grit and courage, as well as a multitude of other skills and commitments. With this spirit, we can keep a positive attitude, a growth mindset, be ruggedly flexible, and not be afraid to make mistakes. We are solution-oriented, customer-driven and see ourselves as part of the economic health and well-being of the areas we serve. We are committed to enhancing our abilities and ensuring we are positioned where we are most valuable.
Family - We are a family-owned and operated business that dreams of one day being a much larger employee-owned company that puts family first through our commitment to our own loved ones, to our customers who rely on us to produce the healthiest and highest quality product, and to those who will one day be our successors.
Fun - DJ’s Pickles is known to love to see people smile. We are a high-touch business that is fueled by having fun whenever we can, including turning bad days into learning experiences. We are colorful in our brand, enjoy giving our products “personalities” that come through in the way they are named and how they taste, and how we represent our brand in the community.
Integrity - DJ’s Pickles is committed to honesty, authenticity, and accountability in all that we do.
Purpose - We are driven to take the generational practice of pickling and keep it relevant in today’s world for a more sustainable future. We are guided by our values to fulfill our mission in honor of our vision.
Practices
ALL VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE AND NO PRESERVATIVES.