JACKS GOURMET PICKLES & RELISH was started in 1994 out of our love for cooking and an abundance from the garden. Johnny Kelley, a chef with over 20 year's experience, developed a relish recipe which was such a success with friends and family, they encouraged him to market his product. 

In 1992 and 1993 we entered what we then called our "garden relish" in the Cumberland County Agriculture Fair, and won consecutive blue ribbons. Once the decision to enter the specialty food business was made Johnny, experimented with other products that resulted in our "Hot Relish".   From there we added two more products to the line, an "Old Fashioned Bread & Butter Pickle" from an old family recipe, and a variation which became the Cajun Pickle or what we call "The Pickle with the Tickle".

In the beginning we worked at marketing our products while still both working full time, then during the summer of 1995, we attended our first festival, The Yarmouth Clam Festival. We were so encouraged by the response we decided that this was a great way to market our product. We now attend over 20 festivals or fairs in New England each year. We find that this is the most rewarding part of the business, because we get to meet our customers, and get immediate feedback.

In 1999 we entered our "Hot Relish" in the Fiery Food Challenge, a national contest sponsored by Chili Pepper Magazine. We were very surprised when we learned we won first place in the condiment category.

Although our business has grown, we are proud to say we still make it ourselves right out of our pickle kitchen in our home. We use fresh produce, and make it in small batches, and believe that is important to keep the consistent quality of our products. Our customers are always comparing our pickles to theirs, or their mothers. We have received letters from our customers telling us how wonderful our pickles and relish are. One woman from California wrote   "I'm 63 and love bread & butter pickles and I thought my grandmas were the best. But when I tasted yours I thought I died and gone to heaven!!!"  

In 1999, we started adding jams and jellies to our line, after customers would come to our booth and ask if we had any red pepper jam. Again, we started experimenting and have come up with some interesting flavors. i.e.: Habanero Orange Marmalade, Cucumber Lemon, Carrot Cake You Don't' Make, Sweet Onion Horseradish, Toe Jam and others.