Sales of pickle snacks hit a record high, with Gen Z customers leading charge

They’re kind of a big dill.

Pickle-inspired snacks and products have become all the rage, with the novelty treats growing 30% in sales over the past year, as reported by the Wall Street Journal through its acquisition of Circana Data market research.

From pickle-flavored cotton candy to Devil Dave’s “Pickle Crack” — a craft dill pickle hot sauce the brand claims is the perfect addition to homemade Bloody Marys — countless brands are cashing in on the tart trend, with the overall snack category growing 3.8%.

Pickle-flavored trail mix has been an unexpected snack standout, growing in popularity by 10%, as opposed to 4% for the general category.

Hygiene brand Fresh Pig has even put out a pickle-flavored toothpaste, which the cheeky brand touts as “a fresh new way to enjoy the pickle flavor you love so much.”

The growth comes on the briny back of munchies that came before, such as Daily Crunch’s Dill Pickle Sprouted Almonds — a snack Whole Foods began selling in 2024, which saw a whopping 812 % growth in a year and a half.

PepsiCo’s Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Cheetos, which were initially released in 2025, were made a permanent staple this year after they became the fastest-selling limited-edition flavor ever for the brand.

NYC’s novelty dining scene has also cashed in on the food fun.

Pickle fans can try Jacob’s Pickles, a restaurant with locations throughout the city that serves “pickle flights,” where diners can try variations like hot sour cukes and candy red beets, and even head to Maison Pickle on the Upper West Side to finish their meal with a slice of 24-layer pickle cake (or take a full one home for $165).

For those wondering who on earth is buying the briny treats, the answer appears to be Gen Z.

Last year, Hormel Foods (of Spam and Skippy peanut butter fame) pointed to Gen Z as its inspiration for three new products — dill pickle corn nuts, dill pickle cashews and dill pickle-flavored Hormel pepperoni — and cited young people as “a fun generation when it comes to food.”

And leave it to Gen Z to post videos of themselves going berserk for gherkins and flavored snacks online.

“Try a bunch of pickle flavored things [with] me,” a TikTok user under the name @margie posted this past April. In the clip, she tried a variety of pickle-flavored treats like flavored freezer pops and jelly beans, which racked up 129K likes.