[4] In the mid-1920s, Shikrey Baddour, a Lebanese immigrant from nearby Goldsboro, first saw opportunity in the wasted cucumber crops of area farmers.

Baddour enlisted the aid of George Moore, a sailor from Wilmington who had worked in a Castle Hayne pickle plant.

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.

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 H.M. Cox as President, Moore as factory superintendent and Baddour as salesman and gave them each shares of stock for their initial investments.

Olive food scientists, working in cooperation with researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), discovered one of the secrets of fermentation.

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.

Guests are provided with hats, noisemakers, and refreshments including cookies, hot chocolate and 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.

[11] In October 1998, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), a trade union, announced a boycott of Mt.

The Association covered a number of cash crops, such as Christmas trees and tobacco, in addition to cucumbers.

Olive was discharging water with extremely high levels of chloride, ammonia and/or nitrogen.