Gen Z girls quit jobs to turn their love for pickles into a business. Their startup is now worth Rs 81...

Gen Z girls quit jobs to turn their love for pickles into a business. Their startup is now worth Rs 81 crore

Two friends in the US turned their shared obsession with pickle videos into a business worth over Rs 80 crore. What began as a simple social-media habit eventually led them to make a life-changing decision to quit their jobs and build a food startup.

Leah Marcus and Yasaman Bakhtiar, who graduated from the University of Southern California in 2022, began sending each other pickle-related videos on TikTok in 2023. As the trend gained attention online, the two started exploring whether their interest could be turned into a business. That summer, they left their jobs and decided to build a food brand together.

Their startup, Good Girl Snacks, launched Hot Girl Pickles in February 2024. The Los Angeles-based company has since expanded from online sales to retailers including Whole Foods Market and Erewhon. It was most recently valued at $8.5 million (approximately Rs 81.4 crore), after raising a $3 million seed round, according to CNBC Make It.

Their first product, Hot Girl Pickles, was launched in February 2024. The founders initially sold the pickles directly to customers through their own website. The company’s name and branding were also influenced by social-media culture. Trends such as ‘Hot Girl Walk’ and ‘Girl Dinner’ were popular online at the time, and the founders drew inspiration from that language while developing the brand.

Turning an idea into a food company required the founders to learn about several parts of the business that had little to do with making pickles. Marcus and Bakhtiar sought advice from USC classmates who had co-founded pasta sauce startup Sauz. They also approached industry professionals through LinkedIn to learn more about funding, operations and logistics. The pair initially raised an undisclosed amount from friends and family.

Starting with a direct-to-consumer model also allowed the founders to sell their product online and understand how customers responded to it before moving into larger retail channels.

Good Girl Snacks says it aimed to bring a different approach to the pickle category, including new flavours and packaging aimed at younger consumers.

The founders eventually wanted to take their product beyond their own website. They applied to sell through grocery retailers Erewhon and Whole Foods, even though the company had only been operating for a relatively short period. Both applications were approved in 2025.

That changed the scale of the business. Hot Girl Pickles are now sold online as well as through retailers including Whole Foods Market and Erewhon. The company has also introduced grab-and-go pickle packets, giving customers another way to buy the product beyond its traditional jars.

The founders have also brought elements of their backgrounds into the products. According to Good Girl Snacks, Marcus and Bakhtiar have Persian, Egyptian and Tunisian influences in their backgrounds, which have informed some of the flavours they have developed.

The founders now have plans to expand beyond pickles. Marcus and Bakhtiar want to introduce additional snacks and use the same branding and marketing strategy in other food categories.

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