During WWII, Detroit creamery owner and first-generation American Joe Vlasic came up with the idea of selling Polish pickles in glass jars. As these pickles were spiced with garlic and dill, they proved wildly popular with consumers and sparked the Vlasic Pickle brand. After the war, Joe’s son Bob joined the company and built its first plant in Imlay City, Michigan. Vlasic contracted with local farmers for cucumbers to meet demand for his product. Though the family sold the company to Cambell Soup in 1978, who sold it to Conagra Brands in 2019, Vlasic pickles still remain “America’s #1 Pickle.”
