Walk into the showroom at Sechler’s Pickle factory in St. Joe, and you’re hit with wave after wave of different aromas.
Of course, you smell vinegar, but then, you catch a hint of sugar. Is that orange I smell?
All of those combine to create a unique scent that can either turn you away or is so intoxicating that it has you look around the showroom long enough to inspect each different flavor of pickles, peppers, or any type of pickled vegetable you can think of to properly celebrate National Pickle Day today.
For President Max Troyer, Sechler’s is home. He grew up nearby in Butler, then went away to school. However, he came back to work at the factory during college. After stints at big food manufacturers, including Heinz, he came back to keep this family business going.
“Yeah, I always had fond memories. It’s kind of unique. Pickles are a unique product. They can be fun. They can put a smile on your face,” Troyer said.
After being the general manager of Sechler’s Pickles for a decade, Troyer bought the company and became president in 2007.
The origin of Sechler’s Pickles dates back to 1921. Ralph Sechler leased two pickle receiving stations, and farmers would bring their cucumbers, often in horse-drawn wagons, to the stations.
During the depression, Sechler’s had no place to sell their pickles, so they started processing pickles in their kitchen until sales became large enough that their barn was converted into a factory. In those days, they sold their products under the St. Joe Valley Brands label.
While most pickle companies emphasize fresh-pack pickles, the majority of Sechler’s are still tank-cured. The old farmhouse now serves as their office. Their original product, Genuine Dills, is still on the shelves, unchanged since the twenties, and the Candied Sweet Orange Strip Pickles have remained a favorite of Sechler’s customers since the 1940s.
“There are a couple of factors to keep this business here this long and keep it successful. We’re neither big nor small. We are small, but we’re not operating out of our garage,” Troyer said. “The primary reason that this company has survived over the generations has been our use of sugar.”
The use of sugar has allowed the Sechler’s to create sweet flavors, including their classic orange, but also lemon, apple, and even raisin-flavored products.
“It definitely gives it a different flavor profile to our products. We feel we have a higher quality product,” Troyer said. “We kind of look at ourselves as like Ben and Jerry’s in the pickle industry. So, it’s a lot of unique products.”
In recent years, they have responded to the increased popularity of spicier foods by adding Sweet Heat Mixed Pickles and Jalapeno Sweet Relish.
The company still employs a few cousins of the Sechler family, and by glancing at the exterior of the factory, you can see where the additions have been made, adding to the uniqueness of the business.
If you’re looking to get a closer look at their operation. You can go on a tour of the factory during the annual St. Joe Pickle during the summer, which Sechler’s is very much involved in.
“We try and do all we can to make it successful,” Troyer said. “We put thousands of people through here on tours during that week.”
Sechler’s has survived this long because of its unique products, the quality of the product, and people like Troyer, who show up every day trying to continue the legacy of what Sechler’s started over a century earlier.
“You have to enjoy it and you have to take pride in what you’re doing,” Troyer said.
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