WRDW/WAGT: Augusta man turns party pickle recipe into local business
March 6, 2026 - WRDW/WAGT: Augusta man turns party pickle recipe into local business; Nick Proto
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - What started as a garnish for a party has become a local business more than a decade in the making.Will McCranie, owner of Will’s Dills, said the idea came out of necessity.“At that time, in the early 2010s, you couldn’t go into a store and buy pickles if you were going to have like an artisanal kind of party,” McCranie said.He made his first batch of Devil Dill pickles for a Bloody Mary party and the response stuck with him.“I was getting asked to bring them to parties and family functions and things like that,” he said.
From home recipe to business
McCranie officially launched the business in 2020, but it shut down as the world reopened. In October, he decided to try again.“I wanted to do something that was kind of creative and kind of I could see a start to finish versus being a cog in the wheel,” McCranie said.He now makes his pickles in the Augusta community where he grew up.“The thing I love about this community is we care so much about local and we’re really protective of it which I think is very incredible,” McCranie said.
Augusta Locally Grown provides kitchen space
That community support has included a commercial kitchen provided by Augusta Locally Grown.“He approached us wanting to revive Will’s Dills and we were just excited to hear about the business,” said Diane Kerekanich, operations director for Augusta Locally Grown.McCranie credited the organization as essential to the relaunch.“This wouldn’t have happened without Augusta Locally Grown,” he said.Early community responseMcCranie said feedback from the community has already been positive just a couple months in.“I grabbed breakfast on the way here at Bodega and someone mentioned the pickles that came in and I was like those were mine … and I was like man that’s why I do this,” McCranie said.Will’s Dills is currently available in about a dozen stores, including Humanitree House in Augusta, Roots in Evans, and Carrie’s Farm Stand in Wagener.
