Local Goodness - Mt. Olive

Local Goodness - Mt. Olive

On the corner of Cucumber and Vine Street in Mount Olive, N.C., you will find the Mt. Olive Pickle Company. Look around and you’ll see “Growing an American Tradition” is showcased everywhere.

“In our hometown, we make the pickles,” stated Lynn Williams, Public Relations Manager for Mt. Olive Pickle Company.

If you were to ask why would someone start a pickle company, look back into Mount Olive’s history from 93 years ago. With an overabundance of cucumbers, there was need of a new market for farmers and something that the whole town could use to benefit. The original purpose was to brine fresh cucumbers to be sold to other pickling firms.  When this didn’t work out and the company found itself in a pickle, they began processing and packaging the pickles themselves.

Whether it’s a bite of a sea salt pickle or a spicy pepper, Mt. Olive provides it all.

And aren’t our stomachs so happy they made the initial decision to expand their market.

As the years have gone by, the partnership between Mt. Olive and Food Lion has been as sweet as sweet relish. “When Food Lion started to get going, we formed a relationship with them and it took off. We’re two very well-known North Carolina companies, and we’re able to say they grew up together,” Williams said.

Williams said there’s a great amount of pride that comes with seeing Mt. Olive products in Food Lion stores. “I always get excited when I see our pickles on the shelves. The thing that’s fun to me, is when we launched our new product label I was able to walk into Food Lion to see the final product on the shelves. Even last week I saw the new resealable pouch and I took a picture of it.”

The hard work and dedication Mt. Olive has shown over its 93 year history is still present today, as the business has grown and expanded so much that shoppers in over 45 states are able to bring home a variety of Mt. Olive pickles.  

“We should all be proud of how much we have overcome because we are the number one brand of pickles, peppers and relishes in the country,” Williams stated.

Another connection between Mt. Olive and Food Lion is the care we both have for our communities. Mt. Olive is very active in their community in numerous ways. “It’s about the relationship all the way around,” said Williams. “Relationships with community, partner sites, consumers, suppliers are all a big part of who we are.”

“Food Lion is really good about being supportive of their local towns and cities.”

And each year Mt. Olive likes to have a lot of fun to get folks and families in the community involved. Their culture is heartwarming. They do everything in their town from hosting the New Year’s Eve pickle drop, supporting education development for local schools and making donations to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

It’s partnerships like these that nourish families and make the towns and cities we serve stronger, and Food Lion is proud to feature so many great sources of local goodness.

If you want to explore more local products featured in Food Lion stores and some of the stories behind them, click here.