Got Questions?

Yes! You can order Cleveland Kitchen products for delivery through Amazon, Hungryroot and Misfits Market. You can also order through many of your favorite local retailers via online shopping and delivery services, such as Instacart, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods Market, Kroger, and more! Visit our store locator for a full list of retailers near you.

Yes. We keep our products raw and unpasteurized, meaning they’re never heat-treated or cooked. This helps preserve the live cultures and supports the fresh flavor and texture you expect from Cleveland Kitchen.

All products should be refrigerated both before and after opening for best quality and health benefits. Refrigeration keeps our Kraut, Kimchi, Pickles and Pickled Vegetables crunchy and fresh and keeps our Everything Sauces smooth and vibrant. The cool temperatures slow the fermentation process of the live cultures in the kraut, ensure maximum benefit from the probiotics, extend the shelf-life and preserve the crunchy texture we love.

Great question! While our products (Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles, Pickled Vegetables) are made with naturally gluten-free ingredients, they’re not officially certified gluten-free.

Great question! While our Everything Sauces are made with naturally gluten-free ingredients, they’re not officially certified gluten-free, so we can’t guarantee there’s zero risk of cross-contamination. If you’re highly sensitive to gluten or have celiac disease, we recommend playing it safe.

Almost all of our products are vegan! Our Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles, and Pickled Vegetables products are made using naturally vegan ingredients, but our products are not certified vegan. The only exceptions are our Everything Sauces (which include dairy) and our Hot Honey Jalapeños (which include honey).

Head on over to our store locator to find Cleveland Kitchen products near you. Look for us in the refrigerated section. We’re usually in Produce, but can sometimes be found in Deli, Meat, or Dairy depending on the retailer. 

If a product you want isn’t on the shelf, let the store manager know, and feel free to reach out to our team; we’re always working to keep shelves stocked and fermentation fans happy.

For now, you can find Cleveland Kitchen across the United States—but stay tuned! Canada is coming soon, and we’re just getting started.

We love the look of glass, but it just doesn’t work for living fermentation. Our sauerkraut and kimchi naturally releases CO₂, and our pouches have a built-in vent (check the back!) that lets that gas escape safely while our products continue to ferment. 

And there’s a sustainability upside, too: flexible pouches use less energy to ship and recycle, weigh less, and are BPA/BPS-free.

This is totally normal! Our sauerkraut and kimchi is alive and still fermenting, which can cause the bag to puff up a bit. Each pouch has a vent on the back that releases natural CO₂ to keep things safe and sealed. As long as it looks, smells, and tastes fresh, you’re good to go!

When we say fermented, we mean fresh, living fermentation, not heat-processed, not shelf-stable. 

Our sauerkrauts and kimchis are naturally fermented with the lactic acid bacteria already found on fresh cabbage. Those good bacteria feed on the cabbage’s natural sugars, create lactic acid, lower the pH, and preserve the vegetables, all while building that tangy, craveable flavor and billions of probiotics that support gut health, digestion, and overall wellness. 

But fermentation doesn’t stop at sauerkraut. Our Pickles, Pickled Vegetables, and Coleslaws are lightly fermented using a proprietary process inside our one-of-a-kind fermentation facility, which serves as a living microbiome where all our fresh-fermented foods come to life. The result? Real crunch, real flavor, real cultures.

At Cleveland Kitchen, lightly fermented means we use a shorter fermentation step inside our one-of-a-kind fermentation facility. This gives our Pickles, Pickled Vegetables, and Coleslaws a boost of living cultures and fresh, clean flavor with the bright vinegar tang you love, without the super sour, funky bite of full-fermented products. And here’s the cool part: no one else is doing this. We’re the only brand with a lightly fermented pickle out there!

Live cultures roll call…

Sauerkraut & Kimchi = 100,000,000+ CFU per serving at time of packing
Pickles & Pickled Vegetables = 1,000,000–10,000,000 CFU per serving at time of packing 

Great question! Live cultures love it cool. Our products contain live cultures when enjoyed fresh and unheated, but cooking—especially at high heat—can reduce the number of active microbes.

But here’s the good news: even when heated, fermented foods can still bring benefits. Fermentation creates helpful compounds called postbiotics—the nourishing byproducts of fermentation that can continue to support gut health and overall wellness, even after cooking.

And of course, they’ll still add a bold, tangy kick to any meal. For the most live-culture goodness, enjoy them cold or add them at the end as a fresh topper after cooking.

Postbiotics are the beneficial compounds created during fermentation. While probiotics are the live cultures in fermented foods, postbiotics are the helpful byproducts those cultures produce—like organic acids and other functional nutrients.

The best part? Because postbiotics are part of what fermentation creates, they can remain even if live cultures are reduced through cooking or heat. It’s one more reason fermented foods are truly Fresh with Benefits.

Great question—these three terms are often grouped together, but they each play a different role in gut health:

• Probiotics = live cultures
• Prebiotics = food that feeds good bacteria
• Postbiotics = beneficial fermentation compounds that remain even after heating

Together, they’re part of what makes fermented foods so special—and why we say Cleveland Kitchen is truly Fresh with Benefits.

Each product has a “Best By” date printed on the package—that’s the best guide! In general, our sauerkraut stays fresh for up to 12 months, kimchi up to 10 months, pickles and pickled vegetables for 4 months when kept refrigerated. Once opened, enjoy within 60 days for the best crunch, flavor, and gut-healthy goodness. 

Our pickles are classic deli-style made with a vinegar brine for that craveable flavor and crunch you know and love. Then we take it a step further with our proprietary lightly fermented process, so you get the best of both worlds: bold, delicious taste and gut-happy live cultures.

We don’t recommend freezing our fresh-fermented products. Freezing can damage the live probiotics and change the texture of the vegetables, making them less crunchy and flavorful. For the best taste and gut-healthy benefits, keep them refrigerated and enjoy fresh!

Absolutely. Great kimchi comes down to great flavor, crunch, and quality ingredients. We partnered with Korean chefs to get the bold, authentic flavors right—then added the fresh crunch Turns out, people agree: it’s the #1 kimchi in America!  

Absolutely. Fermentation is in our DNA. Our Chief Operations Officer holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and is a world-class fermentation expert leading work alongside fermentation scientists, food microbiologists, and industry thought leaders—from nutrition and gut health to flavor, texture, and overall food experience.

New look, same great taste. While our packaging got a refresh, our recipes are still the same ones you know and love.

We loved our dressings too! As we’ve grown, we made the decision to focus on what we do best: crafting great-tasting products from fresh fermented vegetables. That’s why we launched our new line of Everything Sauces, including Dill Pickle Buffalo and Kimchi Ranch. Our Dill Pickle Buffalo is made with our signature dill pickle brine, and our Kimchi Ranch is crafted using our kimchi, delivering the same bold flavor and gut-happy goodness you loved in our dressings, just in a fresh new way.

Our Kimchi, Sauerkrauts, Pickles, and Pickled Vegetables are made in an allergen-free facility. This means no milk, no eggs, no peanuts, no tree nuts, no wheat, no soybeans, no fish, no shellfish, no sesame. Our Everything Sauces do contain dairy but are produced in a separate facility. We follow strict food safety and cleaning procedures across all facilities to ensure the highest quality and safety in every product.

There are so many easy (and delicious!) ways to enjoy fresh fermented foods every day. Add a forkful of sauerkraut, kimchi, or pickled vegetables to eggs or avocado toast in the morning, pile them onto sandwiches and salads, or use them as a fresh, tangy topper for tacos, rice bowls, or burgers.

Our pickles make the perfect snack straight from the fridge, and our Everything Sauces live up to their name. Use them as a dip for wings, nuggets, chips, fries, or veggies, or drizzle them on salads, pizza, burgers, bowls, sandwiches, wraps, tacos, and more.

However you enjoy them, adding Cleveland Kitchen to your routine is an easy way to bring more flavor and function to everyday meals.

Our tagline Fresh with Benefits is meant to be a little playful and cheeky, but also purposeful. “Fresh” speaks to the quality of our ingredients and the way our products are made, from farm to ferment. “Benefits” highlights the functional gut-health benefits of our fermented and lightly fermented foods. Together, it’s our way of saying you don’t have to choose between great taste and feeling good—you get both.