A leading US pickle company, Mt Olive Pickle Company, has withdrawn from the Great American State Fair in Washington DC after North Carolina's booth displayed a video containing a Confederate flag. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
The company, based in eastern North Carolina and billing itself as the "#1 bestselling brand of pickles, peppers and relishes in the US," told local news station WNCT that it was unaware the flag image would be included in a video as part of the state's exhibit.
"Mt Olive Pickle Company was invited to participate in the North Carolina exhibit for the Great American State Fair ... as part of America's 250th celebration," the company said. "We are proud of our North Carolina roots, and we agreed to be a part of an exhibit, as presented to us, that would represent the best of our great state. Our company stands on values of human dignity, opportunity, and freedom."
The Confederacy evoked by the flag was the white supremacist, losing side of the US civil war, which defended slavery before its defeat.
Vehicle manufacturer Spevco, also participating in North Carolina's booth, said the 45-minute video was published on YouTube by a creator and was about the state's history. The manufacturer said the flag appeared for a few seconds, and that moment was shown on news footage of the booth that circulated widely, according to The News & Observer.
A Spevco spokesperson told the outlet that it "did not create, produce, edit, approve or select this historical video to be shown." The video was subsequently removed.
The News & Observer notes that North Carolina did not fly the Confederate battle flag shown in the video while it was part of the Confederacy. The video showed the flag while the host discussed the state's flags. The Confederate battle flag has been co-opted by white supremacist hate groups.
The pickle issue was the latest hiccup for the 16-day event affiliated with the Trump administration. Low attendance and soaring temperatures that sent at least seven people to the hospital have affected the festival.
At least seven Democratic-governed states declined to participate, most citing budget or scheduling constraints. North Carolina was one of the states that said it would not attend, citing budgetary reasons, but was represented after companies stepped in with financing.
The Freedom 250 initiative organizing the event said late Friday that the fair would start at noon Saturday instead of 10am due to heat. Other celebrations in Virginia and Maryland were affected, and parades in Philadelphia and DC were canceled.
Mt Olive's decision is not without irony: Confederate troops were issued pickles and other pickled vegetables as rations to prevent scurvy.
Fortune Business Insights estimates the global pickle business at over $26bn in 2025, with the US market share at 35%.
Pickles are not the only food in the political spotlight on the nation's 250th birthday. On Friday, Donald Trump declared a national scallops day in observance of a NOAA action aimed at opening fishing on the north edge of Georges Bank off New England. Trump said the action would mean more jobs for fishers along the east coast.
The political context of the celebrations surfaced more directly. At Mount Rushmore on Friday, Trump called communism a "mortal threat to American liberty." Hours earlier, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, appeared to reference Trump as an authoritarian. "Those ideals upon which our nation was built – they are strong enough to endure any authoritarian regime, but only if we reach for them," Mamdani said.