The History of Mt. Olive Pickles

In the 1920s, a Lebanese immigrant named Shickrey Baddour was living in North Carolina and noticed that the cucumber crops of local farmers were frequently being wasted. He decided to purchase the cucumbers, brine them, and then sell them to pickle companies. He enlisted the help of George Moore, a sailor from Wilmington who had worked at a Castle Hayne pickle plant. While they were successful in making pickles, they were unable to find buyers, so they decided to package and sell the pickles themselves; Mt. Olive Pickle Company was formally established in 1926. The company had 37 original shareholders when it opened its doors in Mount Olive, North Carolina. All production was done by hand for the first year. In 1943, the company created a profit-sharing plan for employees, and in the 1960s and early 1970s, some employees at the company conducted research that later led to a breakthrough in controlled fermentation at the USDA Food Fermentation Lab at NC State University. In 1969, Mt. Olive became the first food processor in the United States to use high fructose corn syrup. Today, Mt. Olive Pickles is one of the best-selling brands in the United States and offers a wide variety of pickles for consumers to choose from.