Robert J. Vlasic, 96; Got rich selling pickles

Robert J.

Vlasic, who by combining a keen sense for business with an even keener sense of humor turned his family business into the nation’s largest purveyor of pickles, gherkins, sauerkraut and a host of other briny condiments, died May 8 at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He was 96. His son Bill, a former Detroit bureau chief for The New York Times, confirmed the death.

People have been pickling vegetables for thousands of years, and the preserving practice long has been popular in North America.

Still, when Vlasic was growing up in Detroit, the son of a Croatian immigrant who ran a dairy distributor, Americans consumed just 1.8 pounds of pickles per capita per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

If that sounds like a lot, consider that by the time Vlasic sold Vlasic Pickles, to the Campbell Soup Co. in 1978, that number had more than quadrupled, to 8 pounds per capita.