McHENRY – Josh Downey had never set out to run a small business selling hand-packed giardiniera.

“I didn’t even eat giardiniera until a few years back,” he said. “I fell in love with it and started eating copious amounts of it.

“Then I started making giardiniera for myself and some families got a hold of it and really liked it (beginning of fall). So I started selling it to see if I can make something out of it."

When his hand-packed giardiniera straight from his parents’ kitchen kept selling out, Downey realized he could be on cusp of something bigger.