Volume 27 · Number 1 · Fall 2009
Alumni
Cool Jobs: Carl Kruegermann ’88
As a fourth-generation pickle maker in a 113-year-old family business, Carl Kruegermann says he still loves making and eating pickles. His favorite kind is a fermented dill. “As easy as it is to make pickles, it isn’t that easy,” Kruegermann says.
Kruegermann Pickles was founded in Germany in 1896 by his great-grandfather. In 1961, Carl’s father Kurt Kruegermann brought his family and their recipes to Los Angeles to escape then-communist East Germany. Today, Kruegermann Pickles, the only manufacturer of German-style pickles in North America, is thriving in a 25,000 square foot plant in Los Angeles — selling to European delicatessens and specialty food markets across the country.
Kruegermann graduated with a bachelor’s degree in food science and stepped almost immediately into the family business. As company president, Kruegermann handles important business decisions and spends a lot of time on the phone, but he also describes himself as a hands-on guy.
“I do have to spend part of my day in the office, but I also like to jump in and get things done,” he says. “Wherever I’m needed, I’ll roll up my sleeves and help out.”
Looking ahead, his focus is on maintaining quality. “I want to stay a small, family company, manufacturing the best product we can,” he says. “I’d like to see the next generation of the family keep the business going.”