has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article has an unclear citation style . the references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation footnoting or external linking . january 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . january 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message mt. olive pickle company type private industry food processing founded 1926 founder shickrey baddour and george moore headquarters mount olive north carolina united states products pickled cucumbers mixed pickle relish and other pickled products website www.mtolivepickles.com the mount olive pickle company is an american food processing company located in mount olive north carolina . the company s primary product is pickled cucumbers but it is also a large supplier of pepper mixed pickle relish and other pickled products . mt. olive is the largest independent pickle company in the united states and top selling pickle brand in the southeastern united states where its market share approaches 70 percent . 1 2 facilities are all located in mt. olive on 110 acres 45 ha with 800 000 square feet 74 000 m2 of production office and warehouse space . the company has in excess of 1 200 brining vats and can store over 40 000 000 pounds 18 000 000 kg of cucumbers . the company employs over 500 year round and swells to over 800 during the busiest intake season each summer . in 1943 the company was one of the first in the country to offer profit sharing plans to their employees . in 1959 mt. olive established an employee community fund that helped support local community organizations . 3 contents 1 history 2 pickle drop 3 controversy 4 notes 5 references 6 external links history edit 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 led by headley morris cox 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 . many of today s stockholders are grandchildren and great grandchildren of the charter stockholders . the board of directors hired h.m. cox as president moore as factory superintendent and baddour as salesman and gave them each shares of stock for their initial investments . the board also purchased 1 acre 4 000 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 . 1 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 . 4 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 . 5 in 1986 mt. olive pickle co founded the north carolina pickle festival . 6 in 2005 the mt. olive plant had expanded to take up more than 970 000 square feet 90 000 m2 of production space covering 110 acres 0.4 km2 . 2 in 2008 the company introduced the first single pack pickles . the intended markets are workers and schoolchildren . 7 8 pickle drop edit 2012 pickle drop on december 31 1999 the mt. olive pickle company held the first new year s eve pickle drop in which a glowing green 3 foot 1 m high pickle is lowered on a flagpole at 7pm local time midnight gmt . guests are provided with hats noisemakers and refreshments including cookies hot chocolate and of course pickles . the event has turned into an annual occurrence and a source of pride for the community and also benefits the food bank of north carolina through donations of canned goods from guests . 9 controversy edit in october 1998 the farm labor organizing committee 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 . 10 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 . 11 notes edit a b http www.mtolivepickles.com mtolive101 our history a b mohan mt. olive packs and prints pickles and peppers packaging digest september 2005 . http www.northcarolinahistory.org encyclopedia 471 entry growing an american tradition mt. olive pickle co. 2006 . etchells et al. factors influencing bloater formation in brined cucumbers during controlled fermentation journal of food science 1975 . thousands turn out for n.c. pickle festival goldsboro news argus april 29 2007 . raskin hanna december 30 2009 . pickle company slows down new year s eve pickle drop . slashfood.com . fath rebecca . mt. olive continues pickle drop tradition on dec. 31 . news 14 carolina . giant pickle ready for mt. olive new year s celebration . wral . lecker major pickle firm faces floc boycott in march toledo blade october 11 1998 ; zagier pickle protest planned charlotte news and observer october 11 1998 ; carmen organizer of union for migrant workers takes on pickle giant columbus dispatch january 24 1999 ; sengupta farm union takes aim at a big pickle maker new york times october 26 2000 . franklin farm workers group pushes for better pay rights chicago tribune april 8 2006 ; greenhouse north carolina growers group signs union contract for mexican workers new york times september 17 2004 . references edit carmen barbara . organizer of union for migrant workers takes on pickle giant . columbus dispatch . january 24 1999 . etchells j.l. ; fleming h.p. ; hontz l.h. ; bell t.a. ; and monroe r.j. factors influencing bloater formation in brined cucumbers during controlled fermentation . journal of food science . 40 3 1975 . feehan jennifer . floc claims victory in north carolina arrest case . toledo blade . august 15 1998 . franklin stephen . farm workers group pushes for better pay rights . chicago tribune . april 8 2006 . greenhouse steven . north carolina growers group signs union contract for mexican workers . new york times . september 17 2004 . growing an american tradition mt. olive pickle company 80 years . mt. olive n.c. mt. olive pickle co. 2006 . kornegay jr. george r. creating public private partnerships to develop rural and small town infrastructure usda rural development rural development and mount olive north carolina . agricultural outlook forum 2007 . march 1 2007 . lecker kelly . major pickle firm faces floc boycott in march . toledo blade . october 11 1998 . mohan anne marie . mt. olive packs and prints pickles and peppers . packaging digest . september 2005 . sengupta somini . farm union takes aim at a big pickle maker . new york times . october 26 2000 . thousands turn out for n.c. pickle festival . goldsboro news argus . april 29 2007 . zagier alan s. pickle protest planned . charlotte news and observer . october 11 1998 . external links edit north carolina pickle festival web site mt. olive pickle company food portal retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title mt. olive pickle company & oldid 742168946 categories companies established in 1926food manufacturers of the united statescompanies based in north carolinapickles1926 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