Pickles for Tatyanna – Latonja Williams makes flavored pickle business a family affair

Kim Diggs, kdiggs@starlocalmedia.com   –   Star Local Media

Tropical Punch, Peach Mango, Hot N’ Spicy and Sour Grape – these are all flavors of sliced pickles that Latonja Williams, owner of Tatyanna’s Pickle Palace, has cooked up after taking customer requests. She runs her flavored pickle business out of her home, experimenting with various flavorings. Her most widely used agent to get the robust flavor she’s looking for – Kool-Aid.

The discovery that pickles can add a new element to fruity or savory flavors came to Williams as a happy accident. She took the first steps in what would grow to be a business when she was a kid playing with her cousin.

“I started [making these pickles] when I was about 10,” Williams said. “Me and my cousin would get the Kool-Aid, and steal a little sugar from my mama and mix it and put some pickles in it. I think it was just something we used to do. When we used to get Kool-Aid, we used to put lemons in it, and I decided one day that I was going to try it with a pickle in mine. That’s where it all started.”

She never really thought about turning the discovery into a business until her daughter, Tatyanna, started becoming more active in school and participating in a lot of activities. In order to be able to afford all of the fees that came with that, she decided to turn a family tradition into a business. But it took a conversation with a friend to give her the nudge to get started.

“What happened was one of my friends made a tropical punch [pickle] and she wasn’t selling it, and I told her she should do it,” Williams said. “When she decided she wasn’t going to do it, I thought ‘Why don’t I do it?’”

For a while, she sold them out of her home for $1. They were selling so well that she decided to take her business to the next level and start selling them at events.

“My first event was Zydeco Fest,” Williams said. “I made 10 different flavors, and the grown-ups were actually the ones going crazy for the pickles.”

Since 2014, her pickles have taken off across the state and throughout Louisiana. She’s sold pickles at Taste of Rockwall, Essence Festival in New Orleans, festivals in Seagoville and Balch Springs, the Martin Luther King Parade in Dallas, a Mardi Gras parade in Shreveport and many other places.

From 8 a.m.-8 p.m. each Saturday, she can be found at Paschall Park in Mesquite, Texas selling pickles. She continues to set up and sell at events.

One of the upcoming events is a party that lasts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 24 at Bradfield Place, 3700 Oates Drive, a senior living community in Mesquite. There, families will be able to participate in games, watch live entertainment and compete for prizes. Admission is free.

She will also be selling her pickles at Trunk or Treat in Rowlett, texas. It begins at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 30 at Mercer Place, 5701 Dexham Road, Rowlett. Trunk or Treat is a Halloween event in which people decorate their cars to fit a specific theme and children dress up in costume and visit each car to get candy and prizes.

Williams’ latest goal is to grow her business and apply to sell her confections at the Texas State Fair next year.