The last few years of human consciousness have arguably been devoted to one food-related cause: seeing just how far taking our obsession with pickles is officially "far enough." We clearly have not yet reached the edge of that particular pickle horizon, because Slim Jim just released a Vlasic dill pickle flavor that you'll start to see on shelves as early as November 2019. The mighty pickle has graduated now from something you crunch to something you chew.
Per Slim Jim, the new offering will be available in convenience stores and retail locations nationwide, which means you shouldn't have to roam too far to get your pickle jerky fix. “There’s a huge amount of demand we see for pickled/sour/fermented foods and beverages in the market today, and Vlasic is a fabulous brand that we added with the Pinnacle acquisition we made last year,” said Burke Raine, vice-president and general manager of Conagra Brands’ snacks and sweet treats portfolio, in a statement. “We are able to use technical knowhow and a great brand we acquired to create a really delicious, on-trend Slim Jim flavor.”
Here's what they'll look like on shelves, so all my fellow pickle people can keep their eyes peeled come November.
While we've all casually enjoyed pickles since since, well, pretty much the beginning of time (seriously, we can track it back to 2400 BC, according to the New York Food Museum), the past few years have decidedly seen a pickle-ssaince. In the summer of 2018, humanity was graced with pickle-flavored soft serve in New York City, and fittingly spent the summer of 2019 gallivanting around in pickle-shaped pool floats. In April, the internet collectively either swooned in adoration or reeled in horror at the New Jersey sandwich shop that swaps out giant pickles for bread. That same month, another restaurant in Missouri went viral for its ginormous pickle ice cream splits. In fact, pickles even became a literal love language this year, when Grillo's Pickles created a pickle bouquet for Valentine's Day. It was essentially a pile of pickles that had been stabbed with skewers and artfully arranged, but you know what? Fruit baskets are probably still shaking. It's the pickle's world, and we're all just living in it.
That said, for all there is to celebrate in the pickle fandom, I do feel we have flown too close to the sun a few times. Perchance the pickle-flavored cupcake recipe — complete with cream cheese frosting — that made its rounds on the internet was taking it a tad too far. And perchance we did not need to unleash pickle mints on an unsuspecting world. But all this jut goes to show, if there is a way to pickle-fy something, humanity will take it. The Vlasic dill pickle and Slim Jim combo was written in the briney stars long before we were all born. Will still be a winning combo, or another pickle Orpheus? You'll have to wait until they hit shelves in November to find out.
