
A pickle-flavored ramen now exists
CNN
From beer to fast food, nothing is safe from pickles. And now, the sweet and sour taste is entering a new frontier: Ramen.
From beer to fast food, nothing is safe from pickles. And now, the sweet and sour taste is entering a new frontier: Ramen. Intant ramen maker Cup Noodles is releasing a new dill pickle version, which combines the flavors of the noodles with the tangy and sour taste of a pickle all in a microwavable cup. The company hopes to capitalize on the pickle trend that’s taken over social media and attracted curious consumers. “Dill pickle is having a moment, especially with Gen Z and the young millennial audience,” said Priscila Stanton, senior vice president of marketing for Nissin Foods USA, pointing toward TikTok trends and the rise of the flavor on menus, most recently at Popeyes and Shake Shack. “With Cup Noodles, it’s such a perfect fit,” Stanton told CNN. “We have the savoriness of our distinctive flavors and then matching that up with this briny, a little bit of a sour taste and some notes of dill.” She swears that the aptly titled “Cup Noodles Dill Pickle” tastes “fabulous,” but admits that it “moves beyond our traditional boundaries” of chicken and vegetable soups that the Japanese company is best known for. Pickle-flavored foods, drinks and snacks have grown in recent years for a “combination of reasons,” explains Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief advisor at market research firm Circana. One is that the bold and tangy taste of a pickle can be made sweet or spicy in a number of foods, she says. Plus, basically everyone has tried a pickle.

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