Pickles are popping in 2025, from TikTok’s glittery glickles to LA’s pickle-packed menus, and Scott Kaylin is at the heart of the craze. His Kaylin + Kaylin Pickles, born from a pickle-less plight in Vancouver, has turned a side dish into a gourmet sensation. With a Pickle Tasting Bar at the Original Farmers Market and Topped’s pickle boats, Scott’s racked up 100 million views and a Mortadella Pickle Pizza collab with Pizzana. Here’s how an apparel entrepreneur became the pickle man, one crunch at a time.
Q: What made you pivot from apparel to pickles? Did it happen gradually, or as a single “aha” moment?
Scott Kaylin: “There was an aha moment. My wife is one of the top three experts in the world on bras, so my house is pickles and tatas. She had a very successful corporate career, and her last big job was running all the products for Lululemon. We moved from New York to Vancouver for that job. My business was based in Asia at the time. I fell in love with the city. I’m a very active person, I like to eat and drink. Sometimes you don’t realize what you enjoy until you don’t have access to it, and for me, that was pickles. My fridge was always packed with pickles since I was a kid. In Vancouver, I searched and could not find an edible pickle I would put across my lips. I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire career. I came home one day and said to my wife, ‘I’m bringing pickles from New York to Vancouver. If it doesn’t work, I’ll have pickles that are good.’ That was the aha moment.”
Q: What was it about the pickles in Vancouver? Was it the flavor, texture, or crunch?
Scott Kaylin: “Honestly, it was all of it. I could not find a flavor I enjoyed or a crunchy pickle. A restaurant chain was famous for their pickle; I tried that. I heard there was a pickle guy in Pike’s Market across the border, so I took a trek to Seattle one day to find some pickles, and I couldn’t. I realized this plagued the entire West Coast, not just Vancouver—Vancouver to Tijuana had no good pickle.”
Q: It sounds like you really did have a love of pickles— you were searching far and wide.
Scott Kaylin: “I did, I did. I always believed pickles could be more than a condiment if you added flavors. Hence our Pickle Tasting Bar with 12 different flavors, a major part of who we are. I’m on social media more than most people my age, engaging with creators. We had over 100 million views on our tiny little Pickle Tasting Bar last year. I started seeing people doing really cool stuff with pickles, like making sandwiches or being inventive. So I went back to my kitchen and played around. There’s a lot of fun stuff you can do if you get creative. That’s how Topped was born—pickle sandwiches, pickle boats, pickle chips, a fast-casual dining restaurant based on a pickle instead of bread.”
Q: If you could go back in time and tell your past self you’re going to be working seven days a week selling pickles and be happier than ever, would he believe it?
Scott Kaylin: “Probably not. I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire career, so I’ve lived that hustle. I have two daughters, and it makes me so happy that they’ve learned from watching me—they’re in the corporate world. When I have an idea, I do it, no thought process. Topped was from concept to inception in less than a year, that’s who I am. My manager asked, ‘What’s plan B if Topped doesn’t work?’ I told my manager, ‘If you think about plan B, you’ll never succeed.’ You can’t think it won’t work. If it goes wrong, you pivot, figure it out. I’ve been successful, I’ve been dead broke—that’s the entrepreneur’s ride, but the joy of succeeding, there’s nothing better. I’m a believer in putting things out in the universe, and this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Q: Earlier you mentioned that it’s not just a pickle, it’s an experience. Would you say makes a great brand? Is that part of it?
Scott Kaylin: “A hundred percent. A brand needs to be authentic, approachable, fun. We’re a gourmet pickle, high end, but our retail locations are a total experience—engagement, conversation, explanation. People have fun. The product’s great, I’ll stand behind it against anybody. What brings people back is engaging with our staff. For e-comm, we ship everywhere, social media brings people in, but the product keeps them. If it’s not good, they buy once. You build a brand with a good product, passion, and being heard. Our customer service, I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had poor reviews taken down because people react and don’t expect to be heard. If it’s something elevated, I’ll get involved myself as an owner. It really throws people off because they’re not used to it.”
Q: Is that why you chose to name it Kaylin + Kaylin?
Scott Kaylin: “No, not at all. It was Kaylin and Hobbs in Vancouver with a business partner. When we separated, I was like, this is post pickles and pickled. I put my last name twice—kind of sounds like a law firm. But most people know our logo, a smile with two pickles and the word pickles. I trademarked that smile. It’s simple, screams pickles. We sell so much merch of that logo, people love it.”
Scott Kaylin’s journey from apparel to pickles is a wild ride of grit and crunch. His Kaylin + Kaylin Pickles has redefined a humble condiment, earning a cult following at the Venice tasting bar and beyond. Craving a taste? Swing by the Original Farmers Market or snag the Mortadella Pickle Pizza at Pizzana’s seven spots through April 29. Stay tuned for Part 2, where Scott shares the heart and soul of his pickle empire—stories that’ll make you cry, laugh, and maybe even sing.
