Ugly Pickle Co. Says Farewell the the Farmers Market
May 28, 2021
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In this time of transition and new beginnings, Ugly Pickle Co. has shared that tomorrow, May 29, will be their last day at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Kayla Abe and David Murphy joined the Ferry Plaza Farmers in early 2019, and quickly made themselves a vibrant presence on Saturdays, connecting with shoppers to make climate-conscious eating and preventing food waste fun, while slanging their delicious pickles in style.
The exciting news: They’ll be opening a new restaurant, Shuggie’s Trash Pie + Natural Wine, in the Mission District to evolve and amplify their upcycled produce vision later this year! It’s always bittersweet when one of our producers transitions out of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, but we’re so thrilled for David and Kayla’s success. We thank them for their tasty pickles and the many ways they support our farmers, and we know they won’t be strangers to the farmers market as they embark on this new venture.
Kayla and David shared this farewell. Be sure to stop by their stand in the back plaza tomorrow for one last farmers market hurrah!
This Saturday, Ugly Pickle Co. is celebrating its final day at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.
Two and a half years ago, Ugly Pickle was a baby of a brand, making our first retail debut at the Saturday market. That day, friends came out from across the Bay Area to help us launch this project we had worked so hard to build—over long nights and across weekends, outside of our full time jobs.
We could never have anticipated the many new friends we would also make here to help see us through this next major growth milestone.
We are so deeply grateful for your weekly visits where you share weekend plans, your referrals to friends who are “obsessed” with pickles, your IG posts eating our Bread ‘N’ Buttahs out of the jar, for bringing our Burger Party Dills to every picnic and BBQ, for your pickle drop offs into retail stores to encourage them to carry our pickles. You all are the freaking best.
While it’s a bittersweet goodbye from being a vendor, we look forward to seeing you all on the other side of the tent! Collectively, we have worked in nearly every capacity with CUESA—on staff, as a chef volunteer at cocktail events, a weekly shopper, on external committees, and as a vendor. The two of us even met at this market, with the very Californian backdrop of winter citrus popping off on a foggy Saturday over five years ago. Some of our dear farmer friends here were the first to enlighten us about food waste—the driving force behind starting Ugly Pickle Co.
Thank you all—our CUESA staff, shopper, and farmer community—for being a fundamental part of our business and a bright light in our weeks. We are so lucky to be part of your meals and lives!
You can find us on the shelves at Whole Foods, Good Eggs, and many others you can find on our Instagram.
Another major impetus for leaving the market is that we’re opening a restaurant! Shuggie’s Trash Pie + Natural Wine will open this fall in the Mission, and similar to Ugly Pickle, we’ll structure our menu around upcycled produce from local farmers in service of building a healthier food system. We expect you all to come visit! 🙂 We’d love to see your beautiful faces there.
And of course, we’ll be shopping the market every Saturday once we open, though likely a little later than our usual 7:30 AM start time!
Looking forward to seeing many of you on Saturday for a celebration very much like that first day at the market! Hope to see you for a final cheers.
-Kayla + David
Stay in touch with Ugly Pickle Co. and Shuggie’s Trash Pie + Natural Wine.
Topics: Transitions