Liv’s Gourmet Pickles are kind of a big dill
According to Pickle Packers International, Americans consume more than 9 pounds of pickles per person annually.
It’s a statistic I can believe as I alternate between Liv Sain’s pickles — rosemary and classic sweet — before 7 a.m. on a Monday.
I am not generally a sweet pickle fan, but Sain’s pickles are different. They’re lightly sweet. In fact, both varieties could almost pass for my beloved half-sours. The English cucumbers Sain uses have a beautiful, clean, bright green color. They’re crunchy, audibly so. They come out of their pickle pouches — clear so that customers can see the fresh onion, whole garlic cloves and coriander seeds in the mix — transformed into something new, something better than they were.
Sain, 35, says it’s a powerful metaphor for her own life.
“Once you’re a pickle, you can’t go back to being a cucumber,” she says. “That’s how I look at my life now. I don’t want to go back to the old one.”
Sain is in recovery, now 10 months sober. She’s been through detox twice. It was a spiral that began in 2012 after the devastating loss of her father, one that was punctuated by the loss of several other family members in the years immediately following.
“I drank myself into alcoholism, which runs in my family,” says the entrepreneur, who struggled with purpose. She became a speaker for a time, doing TedX. She wrote books about her struggles with substance abuse, mental health issues and more.
“The first time I went to detox, I was at the point of being suicidal,” she says. “I didn’t want to be here anymore. I came out and thought I was on top of the world, thought I could dip into [drinking] again, and I went right back. Now, the business keeps me sober.”
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Sain, who always loved cooking, found herself doing more of it when she developed food allergies.
“It’s also the way I show love,” she says.
When she posted her first pickle jar photo online, people showed lots of love back. So many asked if she was selling them, she decided to give it a go and sold 40 quarts her first week. Encouraged, she pressed on.
It’s been less than a year since Liv’s Gourmet Pickles spun up officially, but these days, she’s taking online orders and selling to walk-ups at the Conway Community Market; she’s new at the Downtown Clermont Farmer’s Market and hoping to make it more regular. You’ll find her pickles on the menu at the Hilton Orlando FastBreak sports bar, gracing both burger and sandwich, and in the grab-and-go section of the Courtyard by Marriott in Lake Buena Vista.
The business isn’t just blowing up, though. It’s given her hope.
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“It gave me something to do every day. I have a passion for it. It had been so much time since dad died, and I still didn’t know what I wanted to do.”
Now, she has pickles. In fact, she’s a self-described pickle snob.
“Once you have a really good, quality pickle, you don’t want that soggy, salty thing you were used to before.”
Sain’s pickles, which took the coveted Reader’s Choice for Best Vegan/Vegetarian in the 2024 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards, are neither. Bendy pickles are sad. Sain’s have snap.
She crafts them in a commissary kitchen and offers a growing array of flavors: dill and rosemary (the latter inspired by a request from La Femme du Fromage‘s Tonda Corrente), balsamic, sweet and dill varieties of jalapeño, and even a tropical relish featuring tiny cubes of pineapple and bell pepper amid the cukes, onion and mustard seed.
She does chips, too, but that one came with some struggle.
“People asked for them from the beginning, but I can be very stubborn. I thought, ‘Everyone does those!'” But sometimes, even when you strive for singularity, taking suggestions makes sense. “They’ve become my biggest seller.”
Sain hopes the business will grow, of course, but is looking to do so organically while hanging onto her vision of giving back. Partnering with charities, including The Realize Foundation (suicide prevention) and Orlando’s One Heart for Women and Children, Liv’s Gourmet Pickles has donated close to $1,000 in its short time in the brine. A recent partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida yielded 1,012 meals for people who needed them.
Sain would love to see the business grow into something more. While many fans talk about being in grocery stores, Sain looks at what Gideon’s Bakehouse founder Steve Lewis has been able to do at Disney Springs and marvels.
“It’s amazing!” she says. “To have a kiosk at CityWalk or something like that would be incredible. Pickles are a perfect theme park snack on a hot day.”
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She also has visions of pickle vending machines, where folks could roll up and snag a bag without having to wait for market days. In fact, Sain delivers within a certain range of operations, so you might not have to wait even now. But she loves seeing old friends at Conway and giving samples to the new ones, who almost always go in for a bag.
They’re fine in the fridge for 75 days, she says. But generally, they don’t last that long. Sitting here, slurping brine post-coffee, I can easily see why. Like Sain, I feel a little transformed via a briny baptism.
Liv’s Gourmet Pickles are available for pre-order (Conway Community Market only) at livsgourmetpickles.com. Follow her on Facebook (facebook.com/Livsgourmetpickles) for a schedule and more information on where to find them.
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
