Pickles You Need in Your Life
Plant based
Vegetarian
Find us at Jojo's Cafe in Ullapool, 4 West Argyle Street
or order via email holly@pickleboxx.co.uk
2026 Highland Pickled chilli peppers (Vegan)
£11 for 290ml
'Hungarian hotwax' variety Chillies grown Organically near Inverness by The Natural Vegetable Company. Pickled in Ullapool with Aspall's white wine vinegar, a splash of water and a pinch of Blackthorn's Scottish
seasalt. With a Scoville rating of 5000-15000, they offer a moderate heat, slightly hotter than jalapeños. Fruity, tangy, crisp, and fresh, these are perfect for enhancing salads, soups, salsa, pairing with smelly cheese, wraps, sandwiches, adding to nachos or just straight up!
Ullapool Raw wild garlic pesto
Available March 2026
Ullapool foraged Wild garlic, blended with cheese, nuts, quality oil and seasalt. A fantastic addition to many meals. Perfect with pasta, paninis, pieces, potatoes, and more.
Wild Highland Furikake butter
Available March 2026
Featuring foraged wild Highland dried sugar kelp seaweed, this Japanese furikake inspired butter is sure to impress. You won't be disappointed.
Kimchi inspired tomato relish
Available March 2026
Featuring Scottish cabbage & Korean Gochugaru chilli flakes. Please be aware that this delicious relish is cooked, not fermented.
Courgette Hors D'oeuvres
Available Summer 2026
Hand-sliced courgettes and onions are pickled in Aspall's white wine vinegar with turmeric, mustard, and thyme grown in Ullapool, creating a delightful blend of flavours that exemplifies the essence of Scottish pickles.
Please contact holly@pickleboxx.co.uk to find out which pickles are currently in stock.
Tradition
All Pickleboxx products are made in small batches by me (Holly Lockie) alone, allowing me to pay close attention to every detail and make any necessary adjustments in the recipes along the way. Small batch production is key to creating exceptional specialty foods. I never use shortcuts or chemicals in the pickling process, instead preferring the time-honored traditional methods that have been used for centuries to craft Scottish pickles.
Ullapool was literally built on fishing and pickling, salting, and preserving the catch. What better place to carry on the pickling tradition.
'Faithfull to traditional methods,
Open to creative exploration.'
Provenance
In the 70s, on the west Coast of Wales, my parents married, sold their belongings, bought a tiny boat, and sailed up here to the Scottish Highlands together on a one-way journey, settling in 'Loch Shark', Kylestrome, Sutherland. There, they built a seaweed-clad teepee to inhabit, mainly to escape the cold and the excessive amounts of condensation that develop, unavoidably, in a small fiberglass boat with two people sleeping inside. With determination (and desperation), my father fashioned a bow and arrows from the wood he could source and taught himself to shoot, hang, and butcher wild deer as their main source of food. Secondary to that was gathered seafood, fish, eggs, nuts, berries, leaves, and roots. They lived like this, honing their skills and knowledge for 2 years until I came along.
I was brought up in Glenleariag, at the head of Loch Nedd, Assynt, Sutherland, until school age and then in Drumbeg until age 16. I spent much of my free time walking, camping, foraging, fishing, and learning skills from my folks, such as tapping birch trees for sap, hot smoking venison to make jerky, and making traps to catch eels and creels to get shellfish. I also collected fungi and seaweed for drying and sought out the first primroses and violets of the season to make candied flowers, and, in recent years, I've started experimenting with traditional methods to create my own proudly Scottish pickles, unique to Ullapool.
My first jobs were in hotels and restaurants, always favoring the kitchen roles over front-of-house positions. Over the years, cooking jobs took me to many interesting places across Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland, and even to Antarctica on a Greenpeace ship. Cooking and creating with fresh foods, is one of life's great pleasures, and one for which I am eternally grateful.
Sustainability
At Pickleboxx, sustainability is at the heart of what I do. I strive to minimize waste by using reusable, returnable, refundable packaging in the form of the amazing versatile glass jars by Weck. These toughened glass jars are suitable for boiling when 'canning' foods for extra long shelf life, and even oven proof (up to 200°c!), plus dishwasher and freezer proof; there is not much these beauties can't handle! When returned empty, you will receive a £2 refund, and the whole unit (jar, lid, rubber seal, and clips) will be sterilized and dried, ready to be refilled.
One jar from every batch of Ullapool pickles we make will be donated to the 'Ullapool community pantry' as a way of returning kindness and gratitude. Follow @pickleboxx on Instagram to find out when the next jar is being donated.
The Wild West Coast
Gather
The sparsely populated west coast of the Scottish Highlands is world-famous for its beautiful game, fish, seafood, fungi, fruit, and herbs. We are very lucky to be right in the centre of a large wild area where such things are at our fingertips, making it an ideal spot for creating delicious Scottish pickles. With a little knowledge (and respect), we have a sustainable larder of unadulterated foods, perfect for pickling, right on our doorsteps.
Seasons
I am greatly inspired by the Japanese philosophy that each year has 72 (micro) seasons. The idea of being so in touch with our natural environment that we notice the subtle changes of the seasons, within the seasons, resonates deeply with me.
Here on the west coast, the polarity of the seasons shapes its plants, its animals, and its people to be adaptable and prepared for anything. During the long bright days of summer, the sun is high in the sky long into the evening, giving us plenty of time to feed, harvest, and gather. In preparation for the dark cold nights of winter, we would have dried our peats and preserved what we could from the summer glut, perhaps even experimenting with smoking, salting and pickling to savor the harvest throughout the colder months.
To forage on the west coast is to work hand in hand with the seasons and glean a little more knowledge each year. It’s a challenge and a pleasure to pinpoint when the first sap starts rising in the Birch trees at the end of winter. Finding the first bright green blades of wild garlic in spring, picking the plump brambles of summer, and spotting the young Chanterelles singing out from the moss and fallen leaves in autumn. It all contributes to the experience. Certain flavors, evoke memories of places, people, and particular times of the year. Each new season weaves a yarn, which together, in our memories, create the rich tapestries of our lives on these lands.
"My heart's in the highlands, wherever I go." ~ Robert Burns.
Harvest
At Pickleboxx, I work hard to find vegetable and herb growers in and around Ullapool to source the freshest ingredients for my pickling. When local options are limited, I'm happy to travel east to the farmlands of Inverness and to The Natural Vegetable Company, a certified organic farm where I spent many happy years working in the past. There, I know I will get the very freshest, pesticide-free fruit and veg from trustworthy growers who are a pleasure to work with. Occasionally, I will use larger Scottish suppliers from places such as North-Berwick, Perthshire, Fife, and Aberdeenshire to fill any gaps, but I always strive to source my main produce for Ullapool pickles from as close to home as possible. When my inquisitive nature leads me to discover flavors from other corners of the globe, I do my best to source small batch, artisan ingredients produced using traditional techniques wherever available.
Collaborators, Suppliers & Stockists
Jo Munro @ Jojo's Cafe
Iain Sutherland @ The Natural Vegetable Company
Iain Sutherland @ The Natural Vegetable Company
Pickleboxx would not be what it is today without Jo. After gaining experience working for Jo, cooking and preparing for a couple of seasons, in October 2024 i went self-employed. Jo graciously allowed me to use Jojo's Cafe kitchen as my premises, and after a thorough examination by Environmental Health, I received the green light. Jojo's
Pickleboxx would not be what it is today without Jo. After gaining experience working for Jo, cooking and preparing for a couple of seasons, in October 2024 i went self-employed. Jo graciously allowed me to use Jojo's Cafe kitchen as my premises, and after a thorough examination by Environmental Health, I received the green light. Jojo's Cafe is a takeaway deli (with some outdoor seating) located in the building that once housed the Ullapool post office, part of the Caledonian Hotel building. They create their very own gelato ice cream from scratch, as well as an array of handmade savory pies, quiches, rolls, soup, salads, cakes, chocolates, and hot daily specials that utilize local produce whenever possible. They also provide fresh vegetables, eggs, milk, cheese, bread, drinks, and of course, the famed Ullapool pickles from Pickleboxx! It's an absolute must-visit when you're in Ullapool, located at 4 West Argyle Street.
Iain Sutherland @ The Natural Vegetable Company
Iain Sutherland @ The Natural Vegetable Company
Iain Sutherland @ The Natural Vegetable Company
Instant nostalgia for me when I hear 'Clachandreggy', the name of the very special piece of land in Torbreck, Inverness-shire that is home to The Natural Vegetable Company. (Well before having children) I worked at NVC for many happy, fun-filled years and learned pretty much everything I know today about organic growing and cultivating. T
Instant nostalgia for me when I hear 'Clachandreggy', the name of the very special piece of land in Torbreck, Inverness-shire that is home to The Natural Vegetable Company. (Well before having children) I worked at NVC for many happy, fun-filled years and learned pretty much everything I know today about organic growing and cultivating. The NVC was started by Maggie Sutherland in 2003 and is now run and managed by her eldest son Iain, whose mission is to grow healthy food for the local community. They are certified organic by The Soil Association and maintain extremely high standards throughout their 4 polytunnels and outdoor patches to meet the requirements and uphold their heartfelt beliefs about how veg farming should be done. They operate year-round and impressively supply their customers with fresh veg 12 months of the year. No mean feat, considering the highland winter weather and low temperatures. Veg boxes are their mainstay, which they personally deliver to their customers weekly. Very popular, you will find there is a waiting list to get onto their veg box list, for sure. In addition to that, they supply well-renowned local restaurants with their beautiful rocket and mixed leaves and, I'm proud to say, also supply Pickleboxx! The Natural Vegetable Company & Pickleboxx also come together twice a year to make the popular 'Highland Pickled chilli peppers', a rewarding and quick selling collaborative product which showcases the beauty and simplicity of our individual talents with this outstanding, Organic, all Vegan, Scottish highland made pickle.
Weck
Liz @ Contin Village stores
Liz @ Contin Village stores
Established in Germany in 1900, Weck was the first company to make glass jars that were suitable for 'canning', a preservation process that involves boiling sealed jars of produce to give them a long shelf life and preserve the nourishment of foods that would otherwise spoil. Weck had 3 factories making these jars, all of which were desec
Established in Germany in 1900, Weck was the first company to make glass jars that were suitable for 'canning', a preservation process that involves boiling sealed jars of produce to give them a long shelf life and preserve the nourishment of foods that would otherwise spoil. Weck had 3 factories making these jars, all of which were desecrated during the war and had to start again from the ground up. Weck is a company rooted in helping people thrive, and much like its jars, it is built to last. Pickleboxx can relate to that. Not only are Weck jars strong, versatile, oven and dishwasher proof, fridge freezer compatible, and cool to look at, they also symbolize stoicism and the self-sufficient mindset well into the 21st century. For those interested in organic pickling, especially with Scottish pickles like Ullapool pickles, Weck jars are the only choice for Pickleboxx.
Liz @ Contin Village stores
Liz @ Contin Village stores
Liz @ Contin Village stores
The 1st shop on the NC500 route southbound of Ullapool, known for its delightful selection of organic pickling products. Run by a lovely couple, this shop is our only stockist other than Jojo's Cafe, currently offering a range of Scottish pickles, including unique Ullapool pickles.
Best sellers
Pickled Highland beetroot in malt vinegar with Ullapool bay leaves
560ml for £10
Whether crinkle cut or thin sliced, each jar of organic pickling features a delightful blend of barley malt vinegar and Ullapool bay leaf, making these Scottish pickles a unique addition to any meal.
2025 Ullapool Birch Syrup
2026 Syrup Available from April. Preorder to avoid disappointment .
Highland cucumbers & radishes with Ito Togarashi pepper strips
Sold out
Cucumbers grown in Inverness-shire, combined with radishes and Japanese Ito Togarashi pepper strips & fresh chili, are pickled in a highland sugar kelp infused rice vinegar, creating delightful Scottish pickles. These organic pickling creations pair wonderfully with rice, in bento boxes, alongside fish, or in salads. Go discover the unique flavors of Ullapool pickles!
Local Achall gin pickled Shallots with juniper berries
Preorder through holly@pickleboxx.co.uk
These organic pickling shallots are infused with red wine vinegar and Achall gin, complemented by juniper berries, making for a delightful addition to any Scottish pickles spread, reminiscent of the unique flavors found in Ullapool pickles.