Mount Olive Pickle Company
Encyclopedia
The Mount Olive Pickle Company is an American
food processing
company located in Mount Olive, North Carolina
. The company's primary product is pickled cucumber
s, but it is also a large supplier of mixed pickle
, relish
and other pickled
products.
Mt. Olive is the top-selling pickle brand in the Southeastern United States
, where its market share approaches 70 percent. Nationally, Mt. Olive is the second-best-selling brand of pickles in the U.S.
By January 1926, a new plan was put into place through the efforts of a group of Mount Olive business people who formally established the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, Inc. to pack and sell its own pickles. Thirty-seven original shareholders put forward $19,000 in capital to get the company started in what all viewed as a "community proposition." The board of directors hired Moore as factory superintendent and Baddour as salesman and gave them each shares of stock for their initial investments. The board also purchased 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) of land from farmer J.A. Westbrook for $1,000. The land is part of the current manufacturing site today. Westbrook's home still stands across from the plant.
Mt. Olive surpassed $500,000 in sales in 1942. The company initiated a profit-sharing plan in 1943, and by 1947 its sales reached more than $1 million a year.
In 1973, Mt. Olive food scientists, working in cooperation with researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA), discovered one of the secrets of fermentation
. The Mt. Olive and USDA researchers discovered that the bacteria
L. plantarum
was key to the fermentation process, and that purging carbon dioxide
from brine with nitrogen
led to minimal rot and waste.
In 1986, Mt. Olive Pickle co-founded the North Carolina Pickle Festival.
On December 31, 1999, the Mt. Olive Pickle Company held the first New Year's Eve
"pickle drop," in which a glowing green 10 feet (3 m)-high pickle is lowered to the earth at 7pm local time. The event has turned into an annual occurrence and a source of pride for the community.
In 2005, the Mt. Olive plant had expanded to take up more than 970000 square feet (90,115.9 m²) of production space covering 110 acre (0.4451546 km²).
In 2008, the company introduced the first single-pack pickles. The intended markets are workers and schoolchildren.
(FLOC), a trade union
, announced a boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Company. The union targeted the pickle processor because it believed that growers would not raise wages unless Mount Olive agreed to pay more for growers' cucumbers.
The union's five-year boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle was ultimately successful. In September 2004, FLOC signed a collective bargaining agreement with Mt. Olive and the growers. More than 6,000 of the state's 10,000 guest workers joined FLOC. More than 1,000 growers agreed to form the North Carolina Growers Association to act as the employers' collective bargaining agent. The Association covered a number of cash crops, such as Christmas trees and tobacco, in addition to cucumbers.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
food processing
Food processing
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...
company located in Mount Olive, North Carolina
Mount Olive, North Carolina
This article is about the town in Wayne County, North Carolina. For the unincorporated community in Stokes County see Mount Olive, Stokes County, North Carolina....
. The company's primary product is pickled cucumber
Pickled cucumber
A pickled cucumber is a cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or other solution and left to ferment for a period of time, by either immersing the cucumbers in an acidic solution or through souring by lacto-fermentation.-Gherkin:A gherkin is not only...
s, but it is also a large supplier of mixed pickle
Mixed pickle
Mixed pickles are pickles made from a variety of vegetables mixed together in the same pickling process. Mixed pickles are eaten much like other pickles: in small amounts to add flavor and to accent a meal.Mixed pickles occur in many different world cuisines....
, relish
Relish
A relish is a cooked, pickled, or chopped vegetable or fruit food item which is typically used as a condiment.In North America, relish commonly alludes to sweet pickle relish-like sauce that often condiments hot dogs, hamburgers and other types of fast food.-Description and ingredients:The item...
and other pickled
Pickling
Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...
products.
Mt. Olive is the top-selling pickle brand in the Southeastern United States
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
, where its market share approaches 70 percent. Nationally, Mt. Olive is the second-best-selling brand of pickles in the U.S.
History
In the mid 1920s, Shickrey Baddour, a Lebanese immigrant from nearby Goldsboro, first saw opportunity in the wasted cucumber crops of area farmers. Baddour came up with the idea of buying the cucumbers, putting them in a brining tank and selling the brined cucumbers, or brine stock, to other pickle firms. Baddour enlisted the aid of George Moore, a sailor from Wilmington who had worked in a Castle Hayne pickle plant. The plan didn't work the way they had envisioned, however: they had no buyers for their product.By January 1926, a new plan was put into place through the efforts of a group of Mount Olive business people who formally established the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, Inc. to pack and sell its own pickles. Thirty-seven original shareholders put forward $19,000 in capital to get the company started in what all viewed as a "community proposition." The board of directors hired Moore as factory superintendent and Baddour as salesman and gave them each shares of stock for their initial investments. The board also purchased 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) of land from farmer J.A. Westbrook for $1,000. The land is part of the current manufacturing site today. Westbrook's home still stands across from the plant.
Mt. Olive surpassed $500,000 in sales in 1942. The company initiated a profit-sharing plan in 1943, and by 1947 its sales reached more than $1 million a year.
In 1973, Mt. Olive food scientists, working in cooperation with researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
(USDA), discovered one of the secrets of fermentation
Fermentation (food)
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
. The Mt. Olive and USDA researchers discovered that the bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
L. plantarum
Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactobacillus plantarum is a widespread member of the genus Lactobacillus, commonly found in many fermented food products as well as anaerobic plant matter. It is also present in saliva . It has the ability to liquefy gelatin. L...
was key to the fermentation process, and that purging carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
from brine with nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
led to minimal rot and waste.
In 1986, Mt. Olive Pickle co-founded the North Carolina Pickle Festival.
On December 31, 1999, the Mt. Olive Pickle Company held the first New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
"pickle drop," in which a glowing green 10 feet (3 m)-high pickle is lowered to the earth at 7pm local time. The event has turned into an annual occurrence and a source of pride for the community.
In 2005, the Mt. Olive plant had expanded to take up more than 970000 square feet (90,115.9 m²) of production space covering 110 acre (0.4451546 km²).
In 2008, the company introduced the first single-pack pickles. The intended markets are workers and schoolchildren.
FLOC boycott
In October 1998, the Farm Labor Organizing CommitteeFarm Labor Organizing Committee
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee , AFL-CIO, is a labor union representing migrant farm workers in the Midwestern United States and North Carolina.-History:...
(FLOC), a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, announced a boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Company. The union targeted the pickle processor because it believed that growers would not raise wages unless Mount Olive agreed to pay more for growers' cucumbers.
The union's five-year boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle was ultimately successful. In September 2004, FLOC signed a collective bargaining agreement with Mt. Olive and the growers. More than 6,000 of the state's 10,000 guest workers joined FLOC. More than 1,000 growers agreed to form the North Carolina Growers Association to act as the employers' collective bargaining agent. The Association covered a number of cash crops, such as Christmas trees and tobacco, in addition to cucumbers.