It's no secret that the gourmet and artisan food business is booming, and most companies get their start in the same way: a few people, working to make a product they're passionate about, with lots of love.

That's just the case with Pittsburgh Pickle Co ., the local artisan food company owned by three brothers, Joe, John, and Will, who you may also know as the owners of The Beerhive in the Strip District. They wanted to add fried pickles to their menu, but found that the available products didn't live up to their standards.

"[The pickles] were pretty gross," John laughed, "so we had to make our own."

They began small-batching pickles for their restaurant, which became so popular they began jarring them.

And Pittsburgh Pickle Co. was born.

courtesy of Pittsburgh Pickle Co

But getting that product into the stream of commerce, while staying in line with the rules and regulations enforced by the FDA, can be a major hurdle for small-batch foodies.

A big part of getting into the food industry is "navigating the regulatory bodies, and what it takes to get a shelf-stable product into the grocery store," Will says. "We're trying to [help other] small gourmet food producers get their products FDA certified and produce it for them so they can scale up. We did the dirty work," Joe says as he and his brothers laugh. "Now we're willing to help other people to make it easier."