If you’ve been to our pop-ups, you know we like to keep it simple. We serve fried chicken tendies, original dipping sauces, and a rotating selection of house-made pickles. We've been doing this for ten months and our ultimate goal has remained unchanged--bring the best fried tendies anyone has ever eaten to grocery stores around the country.
In a nutshell, we're looking to go legit. Our goal is to get our pickles into farmer’s markets, grocery stores, restaurants, and, eventually, online — and use that momentum to bring everything else to grocery stores nation-wide including: our spices, dipping sauces, dry mix, and, ultimately, our chicken tenders.
If you'd like to learn more, please keep reading.
In 2025, the global frozen chicken market is projected to reach $27.32 billion. If you haven't yet, pass by the frozen food aisle at your nearest grocery store and take notice of the disappointing frozen tendie options. You'll notice Tyson Foods has a monopoly and, because of that, there is a huge gap in the market. But after months of researching consumer packaged goods (CPG) and interviewing local Austin CPG businesses, we found that getting a frozen chicken product to market is a lot more difficult than we initially thought. So, we've decided to take things step by step, starting with our pickles, which, as far as CPG goes, has a lower barrier to entry.
Our pickles are quickly becoming the star of the show at our popups with customers being surprised and blindsided by our assortment of pickled vegetables and varied flavor profiles. We've even converted a few pickles haters. Long story short, people are clamoring for a new assortment of pickles.
We’re raising $15,000 to launch the first phase of this business. That’ll get us set up to produce, package, and sell pickles legally as well as allow us to scale.
Where is your Money Going?
We want to be as transparent as possible. Here’s what your donation helps cover:
Commercial kitchen space - sadly you can’t produce any product in this country without a shit load of licenses and you can’t get any license without a commissary kitchen. Estimated cost: $1000 - $2000 for 6 months.
Certification/licensing
Pre-Opening Inspection Application Fee - $178
Food manufacturer License - ~$400–$500 annually
Commissary app fee - ~$175
Commissary Deposit - ~$350
Liability Insurance for Commissary - ~$340
Scheduled Process Certification - ~$200–$500 per recipe
Food Handler Certificates - ~$10–$20 per employee
Food Manager Certificate - ~$85–$125
Farmer’s market permit - $100
(maybe) Food Enterprise: Operational Permit Application Fee - ~$359 - $896 (annual renewal)
(maybe) Better Process Control School (required by Process Authorities) - $300–$600
Ingredients & supplies - vinegars, jars, spices, herbs, fresh produce, dry goods, cambros, etc. - ~$750 - $1,300
Labels/design/marketing - icon design, printing, packaging, website setup, label creation and marketing - ~$600 - $2,000
Grand Total: ~$9,000
You'll notice the grand total is much lower than our $15,000 goal, of course, but if we’ve learned anything from the volatility of running a pop-up, unexpected things happen and prices are often higher than estimates. Any extra funds will be used for emergencies or additional marketing.
Our launch lineup will include our most popular pickles: our spicy dill cucumbers, our Lil Smokies (BnB smoked squash), and Unkle Keat’s Famous pickled okra. With your help, we can get up and running by the end of the year.
How You Can Help?
- Donate what you can.
- If you can’t donate, that's cool. Please just share the campaign.
- Lastly, connect with us if you have any advise or expertise that could help us.
Thank you for your support!
Life is too short to eat boring pickles and mediocre fried chicken
Days-Go-By Guys