Freshly made pickles and bloody marys from land to jar
Greg and Peggy Floyd started Forest Floor Foods from the ground up…pun intended! Forest Floor Foods of Wisconsin was established in 1995 by Greg and Peggy Floyd. Having begun as one of the first organic mushroom growers in 1990 under the name Gourmet’s Delight, Greg expanded his knowledge to become a certified processor and alongside his wife, Peggy, developed their own pickling recipe.
Pickling became their passion and because of their background with mushrooms, the organic vegetable became their first experiment in pickling. They began with three flavors of mushrooms: Sour Cocktail made with vinegar, Dark Bergamo with oregano and pepper, and Classic Sweet which is almost like a bread & butter flavor and is still their biggest seller in Wisconsin. In 1996, their products won Best in Show and Best Packaging at the Midwest Specialty Food Show in Milwaukee. The Floyds had found their niche.
By 2000, the pickled mushroom business was in full swing and Greg and Peggy were able to experiment with new products. Each new product takes three to four years to perfect with Peggy as the final taste-tester. Everything must meet her criteria before the final product is packaged. They both insist that their products must be FLAVORFUL, FRESH, AND CRUNCHY. All the pickling is done by Federal and State Standards in their pickling facility in Eden, Wisconsin.
The Floyds were well aware of the increasing popularity of bloody marys, especially in Wisconsin, so they began to produce pickled vegetables to garnish the cocktail. They developed a rimmer salt, a seasoning mix, and their popular Bloody Mary Spicy Swizzle Stix. They also created two bloody mary mixes, Original – Mild and Hot & Spicy. Both are made with 100% tomato juice and can sit on the grocery shelf or in your home bar for one year without separating. All of their products are made with fresh ingredients and strict processing procedures for the absolute freshness in every jar.
Forest Floor Foods has 26 different pickled veggies to garnish your bloody mary including their newest product, Pickled Okra. Their line of veggies also includes twelve varieties of Specialty Stuffed Olives. Fill your shopping cart full of their pickled products the next time you plan your own bloody mary party and you will agree that the Floyds know what they’re doing.
Fun Facts About Forest Floor Foods
Celebrity Worthy Pickles
If you look closely you will find Forest Floor Foods products in the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Approached by Hollywood producers, Greg and Peggy provided products for the movie set. In fact, Brad Pitt loved the olives so much they had to send more jars during the filming!
Perfect For Dirty Martinis
For a California celebration of a James Bond movie, Forest Floor Foods provided 198 jars of martini olives to be used as the invitations. In order to enter the party, guests had to bring their jar of olives as proof that they were on the guest list.
Learn More
If you’d like to read more about Greg and Peggy’s love story, order Adventures On The Bloody Trail: The Quest Continues by Susan Fiebig. Her book tells their story, the history of the Bloody Mary and a lot more interesting facts about your favorite cocktail!
Excerpts taken from “Adventures On the Bloody Trail: The Quest Continues” by Susan Fiebig ©2015
Susan Fiebig
Author
Susan Fiebig resides in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She is a collagist, writer, business owner, and bloody mary enthusiast. She has spent almost 20 years taste-testing bloody marys throughout the US and has determined that Wisconsin restaurateurs present the best tasting and best all-over presentation of the iconic cocktail. She is the author of Adventures on The Bloody Trail, a guide to the best bloody marys in Wisconsin.
