Pickled onions revival: UK sales up 12% as tastes shift

With sales up 12%, pickles are moving beyond their traditional role as a side to become an ingredient in their own right.

The humble pickled onion, long associated with classic pub culture, the ploughman’s lunch and cold festive buffets, is enjoying a revival as Britain’s appetite for pickles grows.

About 8.5m UK households bought pickled onions over the past year, according to the consumer data firm Worldpanel by Numerator, with particularly strong momentum in recent months.