Pickles are taking over our shelves – and social media.
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It’s the summer of pickles, as crisp, salty cucumbers take over snack shelves and menus across the country. Shoppers may be noticing an increase in pickled and dill-flavored products in grocery aisles.
Limited-edition spicy dill pickle-flavored Goldfish crackers are now available, Heinz has created a pickle ketchup, and Trader Joe’s is releasing Perfectly Pickled Pups, mini hot dogs covered in dill pickle-flavored breadcrumbs. Even less-than-ideal foods are jumping on the pickle bandwagon: Baked by Melissa, a bite-sized cupcake bakery, just released a special pickle-flavored cupcake in collaboration with Clausen’s.
Social media has long been obsessed with all things pickle, with various trends featuring the salty veggie spawning on TikTok, starting with “Girls Dinner,” a meal featuring a variety of snacks like pickles, cheese, and crackers.
There was also a Hot Pickle Challenge, which showed TikTok users eating extremely spicy pickles straight from the container. The TikTok hashtag “#pickles” has been used nearly 300,000 times.
The social media trend for pickles is also reflected in consumer data: the pickle market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5.8% between 2023 and 2032, with a projected value of $22.36 billion in 2032. According to a 2023 Yelp report, searches for pickle-flavored foods have increased by 55%.
Now, the latest “Big Dill” in the pickle craze is a sandwich.
A new food trend taking social media by storm involves replacing the bread in a submarine sandwich with a giant, hollowed-out pickle. A New York deli is taking TikTok by storm with its creation, which features traditional sandwich ingredients like cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, and bacon sandwiched between two giant pickles.
Seven Brothers Gourmet in Oceanside, New York is the deli behind the viral pickle sandwich. It’s the brainchild of two pickle-loving staff members who wanted to create a new type of sandwich without bread. They came up with the idea in January of this year and made just a few sandwiches each week. That all changed in May when a TikTok video showcasing the pickle sandwich went viral. After a TikTok video showcasing the sandwich garnered more than 4 million views, Seven Brothers Gourmet noticed an increase in demand. Customers began flocking to the deli to try the pickle sandwich.
“Now we make as many as 500 pickle sandwiches a day,” says Stephanie Kemp, one of the Seven Brothers Gourmet employees who invented the sandwich. Kemp said her original sandwich contained turkey, provolone cheese, lettuce and bacon, but that the pickle sandwich works with any meat and cheese combination.
Seven Brothers Gourmet Pickle Sandwich
Kara Smith
Some customers have traveled from other states to try the pickle deli’s deliciousness, and demand has been so high that Seven Brothers Gourmet has set up a dedicated pickle sandwich line to keep up with the increased orders and avoid bothering customers looking for a carb-heavy lunch.
Pickle lovers who don’t live near Oceanside, New York, can recreate the sandwich at home.
“Make sure your pickles are large enough and remember to remove the seeds,” Kemp says. “Layer it with your favorite cold cuts, cheese, and lettuce to create your own pickle sandwich.”
Seven Brothers Gourmet isn’t the first deli to swap out bread for a low-calorie pickle sandwich: Elsie’s Sub Shop in Haddon Township, New Jersey, started making pickle sandwiches in 2019 when the owner was looking for a healthier sandwich option. Now, the New Jersey deli focuses on traditional bread sandwiches, but also offers pickle bread for those looking for a lower-carb diet.
