A pickle-flavored ramen now exists
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.
'It's a familiar and favorite flavor to many, so consumers may be more apt to try something with pickle flavor,' Wyatt told CNN. 'There is also influencing from social media that help drive exposure and excitement.'
Online chatter about pickles increased nearly 12% and menu additions jumped 8% last year, according to data from Tastewise, which tracks trends.
'Cup Noodles Dill Pickle' goes on sale for a limited time for $1.17 beginning June 21 at select Walmart and Albertsons stores as well as online.
The new pickle flavor ramen is part of Nissin's plans to ramp up its limited time offerings, which have included a breakfast flavor, s'mores and pumpkin. Stanton said the company wants to increase the special releases from around two to four, although that's a far cry from the hundreds they release yearly in Japan.
The limited time offerings are in addition to Cup Noodles' stable of permanent options, all of which helped boost Nissin's revenue in the Americas by more than 20% last year.
In total, the packaged ramen category has grown for the past four consecutive years, most recently jumping nearly 7% in 2024, according to Circana data. TikTok and inflation are spurring that growth with consumers looking to spend frugally.
'Ramen provides an economical option for consumers that not only provides an affordable price, but also a variety of flavors to appeal to a broad consumer set,' Circana's Wyatt said. 'Social media started several years ago showcasing different recipes using ramen noodles which help drive penetration of the products.'
That has also prompted new entries to the category, most notably Nestlé bringing Maggi noodles, the top-selling instant noodle brand in India, to the US for the first time last month. Maggi's lineup is focused on targeting the young and growing number of multicultural eaters, with options that include an Indian masala, a Korean spicy BBQ and a Chinese spicy garlic.
'The demand for global flavors is booming in the US,' Nelson Pena, president of Nestle's global culinary kitchen, told CNN. 'The younger consumer is looking to explore cuisine and travel around the world through what they eat.'
Launching Maggi instant noodles is a 'way that we could actually win better than anyone else in the US,' he said, adding that the current offerings of noodles are 'bland' and 'they've got no flavor.'
Pena said that instant noodles are $2 billion category and is projected to double within the next decade.
'So, why not now? And why not do it with the number one culinary brand around the world that brings authenticity and a platform to expand from there,' he added.
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