Mt. Olive is CFIC’s 2026 Local Supplier of the Year!

At the 22nd Annual CFIC Convention, CFIC President Larry Wilson announced Mt. Olive Pickle Co. as the council’s 2026 Local Supplier of the Year. CFIC’s retail members nominate and select a Carolinas-based outstanding supplier based upon excellence in innovation, customer service, and involvement with CFIC. Mt. Olive Pickle Co. has been a supporter of CFIC since 2005.

Larry Wilson presented the award to Mt. Olive’s national sales manager, Chad Marsh.

CFIC followed up with Mt. Olive’s public relations manager, Lynn Williams, to learn more about the company.

What trends are you seeing in the marketplace?

Broadly, consumers are more conscious of the ingredients in the foods they buy than ever before. They read the labels – and they challenge food manufacturers to use fewer ingredients, or what they perceive as healthier alternatives. More consumers also seek brands they are proud to support, whose values align with their own.

Specifically, pickles are having a moment that extends beyond the pickle, pepper and relish category. Pickle- and dill-flavored food and drink are popping up in all sorts of combinations all over the grocery store, in convenience stores and on menus. On the practical side, pickles are a safe, flavorful food. But there’s also something about pickles that are just fun, and folks either love them or hate them. That love of pickles can morph into a perspective on life, if not an outright lifestyle. Our own North Carolina Pickle Festival in Mount Olive marked its 40^th anniversary this year. It’s a logical celebration in the hometown of the country’s largest pickle manufacturer. But many major cities across the US – and even small ones – with not much connection to pickles at all are now holding pickle festivals. In our experience here in Mount Olive, many festival goers show up in pickle costumes or specially designed tees and hats for the occasion. In fact, we had enough show up in costume – wholly unprompted – that several years ago we launched an annual costume contest. No pre-registration required: just show up at the stage at the appointed time.

 

Tell us about the company’s history and legacy and how that shaped how the company does business today.

Mt. Olive Pickle Company was organized in 1926 by local business leaders who saw opportunity in bumper crops of cucumbers that were going to waste. They reasoned that a new market for farmers would benefit the whole town.  That desire to improve the local economy has remained consistent for Mt. Olive Pickle throughout its one-hundred year history. We appreciate the role we play as an economic mainstay in our small Eastern North Carolina town. We offer our support in big ways and small: from millions over the years to the University of Mount Olive, to pickles for church homecomings and promotional items for fire department fundraisers. In 2025, we opened the Mt. Olive Pickle Parlor in Downtown Mount Olive. Part pickle-themed gift shop, part museum with pickles and free pickle tastings, the parlor has drawn thousands to Mount Olive’s historic business district as a new retail anchor. Beyond financial investments, we seek to ensure we are a progressive employer and a faithful environmental steward in our community.

 

Out of all Mt. Olive’s products which ones do you find to be most popular in the Carolinas? How does that compare with national trends? 

No matter where you look throughout the US, kosher dill – the garlic-flavored giant of the pickle industry – is the number one flavor for pickles. That is true here in the Carolinas, and it is true in California. There are some differences in other items by region: Mt. Olive’s Sweet Salad Cubes are a Southern staple, for example, but you won’t find it elsewhere in the country.

 

Criteria for the CFIC Carolinas Supplier of the Year include consistent and responsive customer service, and innovation. Does Mt. Olive have core principles that are integrated into your corporate culture to address these?

Absolutely. Mt. Olive Pickle has lasted for 100 years precisely because it pays attention to its customers, and because it believes innovation is a key driver of growth. We seek to be responsive to our customer needs, be it packaging or delivery or item mix, and at the same time we seek to be responsive to our consumers. We engage with thousands of Mt. Olive consumers from around the country each year just through our website alone, and thousands more through our 1-800 consumer relations line. Our web address and 800 number are printed on our caps so consumers can reach us. And, we offer a robust social media program that interacts with fans regularly. As for innovation, pickles have been around for over 4,000 years, so we have to work really hard to sustain excitement! We were the first to introduce a No Sugar Added line of sweet pickles in the 2000s, the first to pack pickles in single-serve cups. Among many other lines and flavors, we recently introduced the premium Majestic Picklery brand, which encompasses not just higher end pickles but peppers and other pickled vegetables. The Simply line was a direct response to consumer demand for “clean label” items, using turmeric for color. The newest, Clearly, takes that a step further with no color at all. We continually have new items and flavor combinations in development. Every idea isn’t necessarily a winner, but the company provides room for innovation, development, and risk taking.

 

Does Mt. Olive have any charitable causes on which you focus or are there key communities you serve?

Mt. Olive’s most notable charitable cause is the Make-A-Wish Foundation, whose logo appears on many of our product lids. We are also a sponsor of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association. Closer to home, our single largest beneficiary is the University of Mount Olive, because we believe that education is the primary pathway to successful communities and families, particularly in rural regions like ours.

 

As a long-standing member and supporter of CFIC, what would you say to other suppliers that are not involved with CFIC to encourage them to join and participate?

In our business, relationships are key – relationships with customers, suppliers, vendors, employees, the community. CFIC offers food retail businesses a great avenue for networking and education, in settings that foster relationship building here in the Carolinas. It also provides a collective voice and advocacy for mutual issues at the state level, and in times of natural or man-made disasters CFIC provides a mechanism to facilitate relief and recovery efforts.

 

What advice would you give to a young person interested in entering the retail food industry?

First, experience is always the best teacher. Take advantage of entry level retail jobs for summers and after school to get the flavor of working retail. But understand that there’s room – and great need – for a wide variety of skillsets and interests beyond the grocery shelf, the stockroom, and the cash register. The retail food business is an ever-changing, dynamic industry, and within that are really great, satisfying career paths. In the end, our ultimate job is delivering safe, quality food to our communities.