Bell - Carter Olive Company

2000 marked the 88th anniversary of Bell-Carter Foods, Inc.'s entry in the Alice industry. In 1912, brothers Arthur and Henry Bell purchased a small olive grove in Reedley, California, just south of Fresno. Their focus for the next 18 years was harvesting and selling olives to various olive processors in central California.

At the start of the Depression in 1930, they expanded into canning, distributing and marketing their own olives under the "Bell's" brand name. Arthur moved to Berkeley, where he started a packing operation. Henry continued to tend the groves in Reedley and shipped olives to his brother. Arthur acted as a one-man olive canner and food-service distributor to restaurants in nearby San Francisco.

In the early 1930's, "Bell's" chopped olives were widely used in chopped olive sandwiches (considered a delicacy at the time) and were featured as the "Islands" in Thousand Island salad dressing. Canned chopped olives were the first of many product innovations that the company would introduce. Another invention was Arthur Bell's "pitter-chopper". designed with the help of the engineering department at the University of California at Berkeley. The machine removed pits and chopped olives at the same time, an automated process that would become an industry standard.

By 1938, the Company was packing 7,000 cases of olives per year with a dozen employees. That year, Arthur's stepson, Daniel S. Carter, joined the company to oversee the processing and canning operation. Arthur was then able to expand his sales routes to metropolitan areas across the nation increasing sales dramatically. By the end of the decade, Bell became a force in the national olive market.

The Company's sales slumped during World War II, but it was able to maintain a market share of approximately 5 percent. Daniel Carter returned from the Navy in 1945. As the company continued its growth, the organization was renamed Bell-Carter Olive Company.

The olive market expanded throughout the 1950's and 1960's into grocery stores, delicatessens and supermarkets, and Bell-carter diversified its product line for consumers and restaurants. Sliced olives targeted homes, restaurants, and the growing pizza industry.

In 1964, the third generation of the family joined the business with the entry of Daniel's sons, Tim and Jud Carter. Moving up to leadership position in the 1970s, both men accelerated the Company's physical expansion, distribution network and increased sales to record levels.

In 1978, the Company purchased the Maywood Olive Company in Corning, California, which was renovated and made fully operational by 1980. Operations were then moved from Berkeley.

In the 90's the Company tripled sales, through acquisitions and diversification. In 1990 Bell-carter acquired the operating assets of Olives, Inc., and started a specialty food packaging company in Modesto. In September 1992, the Company purchased the Lindsay olive brand which is the most widely recognized brand in the United States. In Janusry 1999, the Company developed a partnership with Agro-Sevilla, a Spanish olive company, to sell and market imported olive products. In October 1999, the company agreed to acquire assets of the Oberti Olive Co. from Tri-Valley Growers.

Today, Bell-Carter Foods, Inc. has the largest table olive facility in the world, packing the olives of more than 900 growers. In addition to its 50+acre Corning plant, Modesto packing facility and headquarters in Lafayette, California, the Company has regional offices in the Midwest & Eastern States. Bell-Carter provides full-time employment to more than 400 people.

The Company accounts for approximately 60 percent of all California olives processed and sold in the nation. In the 2000 crop year, Bell-carter projects shipments in excess of 9 million cases of olives worldwide. Bell-Carter's commitment to quality was recognized in 1997, 1998, & 1999, when the Corning facility was awarded a "Superior" rating by the American Institute of Banking. In 2000, the Company was ISO 9002 certified. There is no other olive company in the world with similar ratings.