Meet Ben Harrison | Chief pickle and sauce artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Harrison and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have a passion for fermented dill pickles and for hot sauces that pack a punch as well as have great flavor. I’ve been making them for a long time and had been giving them as gifts to friends and family. When I heard the words “you should sell these” from a number of people I started to give the idea some more serious thought. I noticed an empty space in the pickle market locally for fermented pickles and saw the potential for success.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Dynamo’s Dills pickles are made via fermentation. This process naturally preserves the cucumbers without the need for any chemical preservatives or vinegar. The sour taste comes from the lactic acid resulting from fermentation. Most pickles you find in the grocery store are acidified using a vinegar based brine. The fermentation process is based on the presence and growth of probiotic (good) bacteria that aid in boosting immune systems and supporting “gut health”. Vinegar-based pickles do not have this important health benefit. Our hot sauces have all been developed to deliver a delicious flavor, without any sacrifice to the intended heat level. There are so many hot sauces on the market and many of them make claims to be hot when in reality they’re quite mild. Others taste great but lack heat. We’re trying to address those shortcomings with all of the hot sauce varieties we make.
Getting started took a lot of work. Being in the food business means a lot of licensing/permits and those processes not only take time, but a great amount of work. I became certified as Food Handling Manager to ensure that I produce safe products. As a prerequisite to the health permits it was also very good learning about how to safely receive, store, cook, etc. to prevent any spoilage or contamination. Also part of the permitting processes was the need to have some lab testing done, labels designed “to code”, and a thorough product production process mapped out. The preparation resulted in a 30+ paged PDF packet for health inspectors to review.
We’re still a very new company, and it’s a part-time passion project for now. But a lot has been learned so far. Getting a rhythm going, and learning how to anticipate the demand for my products has been essential. Managing the growth has been another detail I’ve been looking after. There are lots of opportunities to choose from, so selecting the ones that best fit my brand, and my goals for exposure is important.
We strive to be as small of an impact on our planet as possible and are a certified California Green Business. In order to qualify we needed to meet a number of criteria and we achieved that by converting our office power to 100% renewable energy, using plant based labels and inks, using eco-friendly material in our hats and t-shirts, and offering discounts to customers who return their empty jars and bottles. On top of that, we source our ingredients locally whenever possible.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is a fun question. I think we would check out some of the basics like 2nd St. and 4th St. and enjoy some of the various cuisine available to us there. Of course some time on the beach, perhaps taking advantage of the bike path. We could cruise on over to Shoreline Village for some shopping and food. Another fun thing to do would take the water taxi for a boating experience. We would also likely rent a duffy boat and cruise around the canals at Naples Island. We would also probably check out some live music at Alex’s Bar, or some of the other venues in the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to shout out to Dina Feldman who runs Feel Good Salsa Kitchen, which is the commercial kitchen that we use to make our products. Dina believed in me from the start and was instrumental in guiding me in the process of starting up. Dina is also incredibly active in the community and has led many community-help initiatives such as donating Thanksgiving meals to households in need, and her non-profit urban farm Sowing The Seeds of Change. I would also like to thank all of my friends and family who have helped me refine my recipes with taste-testing and feedback over the years. And for all of their encouragement and support in getting things off the ground.

Website: www.dynamosdills.com

Instagram: @dynamosdills

Facebook: @DynamosDillPickles