Made in Michigan: McClure's canned bloody mary mix

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DETROIT (WJRT) (05/22/19) -- A company known for its pickles and bloody mary mix, is about to make your brunch plans a lot more interesting! McClure's Pickles in Detroit is branching out into the ready-to-drink realm.

The company is now canning their famous bloody mary mix, alcohol included!

The blend of tomato juice, pickle brine and spices is made inside their 20,000 square foot facility in Detroit.

"2,500 to 3,000 gallons of bloody mary mix a day, some of it is going into the bottles, some of it's being bulk processed for canning," said McClure's Co-Founder Joe McClure.

Around 7,000 jars of bloody mary mix are made on production days.

"I'm heading up operations, my brother is heading up some sales, then we have a team of about 30 people and one robot making all the product," McClure said.

But how did they come up with the idea to mass produce the mix? It all started at farmer's markets 13 years ago.

"We told everybody not to pour the pickle brine out of the jar when your done with it. When you eat the pickles, you have about a half jar of pickle brine, so instead of throwing that out, we fill the jar up with tomato juice and we have this fantastic bloody mary, it's like pickle brine bloody mary mix."

It all starts with the jars. One by one, they're filled with the mix. Then, the jars are chilled before they're labeled, packed and shipped out.

As far as the canning process is concerned, two 300 gallon jugs are filled up with the mix, then they're sent off to Pigeon Hill Brewery in Muskegon, where the mix is is mixed with vodka and then canned.

"There's a lot more ready to drink cans coming out now, you see wine in cans, but there aren't too many bloody mary mixes in cans. I feel proud to be part of that renaissance of the small food producers, making something that's dear to their heart, making something with good ingredients and sharing that with the world," McClure said.

McClure's canned bloody mary mix, along with the company's famous pickles can be found at your neighborhood Kroger, Meijer and other specialty food markets.

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