What’s the Dill? Experts Break Down the Pickle Trend in Flavor and Fragrance
Phoenix Flavors & Fragrances is excited to spotlight May’s trending ingredient: Dill. The pickle craze is in full swing—fueled by bold flavor innovation and unexpected crossovers in food, beverage, fashion, and beauty.
Phoenix’s Brandon Olson, Senior Flavorist, and Heather Correll, Customer Service Representative, return alongside our fragrance team experts to break down this tangy movement.
What’s driving the crossover appeal of dill and pickle profiles in both flavor and fragrance?
Heather Correll (HC): Cucumber notes in fragrance are versatile and consistently popular. Their fresh, green, watery, and clean profile pairs well with most fruits, florals, and herbal notes like tea, basil, and rosemary. Adding fresh dill and tangy pickle brine gives cucumber a zesty twist—supercharging it into a new fragrance category and challenging flavorists to create unique, exciting profiles that captivate consumers.
Fragrance Team (PF): This trend gained momentum with the bitters resurgence in late 2024, which reintroduced classic cocktails and sparked curiosity in tangy, zesty infusions. Have you tried a Pickle-tini? Dill and pickle notes are riding the wave of this flavor curiosity and crossing over into personal care, fashion, and beauty.
Is consumer demand for pickle profiles driven more by novelty, nostalgia, or something else?
HC: It’s a mix of both, but the main driver is social media. The abundance of pickle-themed content—especially among Gen Z—shows a strong desire for bold sensory experiences. Today’s consumers are looking for modern twists on classic flavors, delivered with intensity and creativity.
PF: We’d call it “the new nostalgia.” There’s a novelty factor, yes—but it’s also addictive. Dill is being rediscovered not just as a flavor or aroma, but as a wellness-forward ingredient rich in nutrients, antioxidants, and skin-hydrating properties. That crossover appeal is what’s propelling it into new categories.
From a technical perspective, what makes pickle flavor exciting—or challenging—to formulate?
Brandon Olson (BO): I usually begin with dillweed oil as a base. On its own, it’s flat—mildly herbal—but it needs to be lifted with other ingredients to create the familiar, nose-tingling, zesty profile of a dill pickle. That’s the challenge and the fun—building layers that feel authentic and bright.
Are these pickle flavors typically created using natural extracts or through fermentation?
BO: We primarily use natural essential oils and natural extracts to achieve fresh, bright top notes.
In fragrance, what types of compositions work best for incorporating dill or briny, pickled facets?
PF: These notes work surprisingly well in a range of compositions—especially when paired thoughtfully. We’ve blended them with red fruits (like strawberry, which is trending), bitter citruses, green aromatics, “good-for-you” herbs, and even sweet gourmands like ice cream or cupcakes. It’s all about balance.
How do you avoid a “too foodie” perception when using bold notes like pickle in fragrance?
PF: We collaborated closely with our master perfumers and creative teams to develop a custom pickle accord. From there, we built a fragrance story that feels playful yet polished—surrounding the bold notes with familiar, likable elements to keep the composition wearable and appealing.
Come visit our Creative Center for a smell-to-taste experience and discover the next wave of bold innovation!