Review of Sechler's Pickles in St. Joe, Indiana

Sechler's Pickles Inc. is located in St. Joe, Indiana a small rural area of DeKalb County. Finding success in the pickle industry for a small operation has not always been the easiest of jobs, but one that they seem to have achieved. Known for focusing on specialty varieties, quality, and keeping some old fashioned ways of making pickles has led them to be the company that they are today.

Sechler's Pickles Inc. started out with one man, Ralph Sechler. In 1914, Ralph began to run a pickle station in St. Joe, Indiana. He would deliver freshly-picked cucumbers in a salt brine ( known as brine stock) to a railroad side where they would be transported 20 miles to the D.M. Sears Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ralph would transport it to the railroad in a horse-drawn wagon so it would have been nearly impossible for him to make the delivery.

In 1921, after taking some time away from that business due to attending college and serving in the Army, Ralph leased two of his pickle stations and started to ship brine stock to other companies. He was also selling pickles and relish from wooden barrels. This was the start of his career in the pickle business. He sold to Heinz and he also sold to many local restaurants. His wife, Anna, would pack jars of pickles to be sold locally under the company name , "St. Joe Valley Brands". This business began to thrive.

The company name changed in 1948 when Ralph's son, Frank graduated from college and entered into the business. Now known as, "Ralph Sechler and Son", the company continue to prosper and grow. They began to make sweet, candied style pickles and people were beginning to notice that the Sechlers' had a knack for pickles. Adding a mail order business and a show room was a big help to the business. Coming up with new varieties of pickles helped the business to grow also.

In 2008, the business was sold to Max Troyer, the current owner and President. Troyer had worked one summer for the Sechler's as an intern in college. However, he had a long list of companies that he had worked for in the pickle business- Heinz for one. He had been the general manager at Sechler's though since about 1998. He has a master's degree in ag economics and knows a lot about the pickle business. He is fully aware that people either love pickles or hate pickles and that people have certain tastes for pickles.

The process begins with the company's contract growers in Indiana, Michigan ( the largest pickle producer in the nation), and Ohio growing some of the nicest cucumbers that they can produce. Harvested and transported to the company, the cucumbers are sorted at Sechler's by size and then taken to the curing tanks.

Curing tanks are cypress wood barrels that contain the salt brine solution where the cucumbers will stay for up to three months in order to become pickles. All of the candied sweet pickles and most of the other sweet pickles are cured in these very tanks. For pickles that are going to be fresh packed, they will only be washed, cut, packaged, and pasteurized and can be eaten within two weeks of being packed. Some of the best known varieties that are fresh packed are the Kosher Baby Dills, Kosher Spears, and the Sechler's very own bread and butter pickles.

The Sechler's pride themselves on the fact that they still use granulated sugar in their pickles instead of corn syrup and that they have fantastic employees that work year round. It is a small business with only about 30 employees, some of which have been there a long time. They feel that this makes for great quality control in the business. This allows them to produce the specialized products that have led them to the success that they are having at a time when many small businesses are having to close their doors due to the economic downfall that businesses have seen in the past couple of years. Products like "Candied Sweet Raisin Crispies" are a item that you will only find with a Sechler's Pickle.

With the business selling to grocery stores, on the internet, to food service companies, and the showroom, they are currently selling throughout the United States to 30 states and 80 % of their sales are in the midwest. Max Troyer believes that the future will only get better in the future and that their is going to be plenty of room in the industry for small pickle businesses. He knows that the market changes and he knows that there will be plenty of competition but staying true to the roots of the company and the ethics that it was built upon will help them to thrive.

Each year, if you are willing to make the trip, DeKalb County has an annual Pickle Festival in St. Joe. Held in August, it brings people into the county to taste the pickles that are locally made there. One year, to their surprise the Food Network showed up to showcase the Pickle Festival and all of the wonderful food that Sechler's has to offer. As their slogan says, ' We could make them faster, but that wouldn't make them better." After all, why would you change something that you have perfected!