Consumption

• More than 67 percent of all households eat pickles.
• American households purchase pickles every 53 days.
• Americans consume more than nine pounds of pickles per person annually.

The Land

• Approximately 100,000 to 125,00 acres are devoted to growing pickling cucumbers in the U.S. They are grown in more than 30 states, with the biggest producers being in California, Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas.
• Cucumbers are a cash crop at the grower level. Growing them requires no government subsidies.

Health

• Pickles are fat-free and low in calories.
• Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, believed pickles contributed to health and beauty.

Particulars

• Pickling is one of the oldest forms of food preservation, discovered at the dawn of civilization, thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia.
• North Americans prefer pickles with warts while Europeans prefer them wartless.
• Refrigerated versions account for about 20% of all pickle sales.
• International Pickle Week is one of the country’s longest running food promotions. It has been observed for more than 50 years. IPW runs for ten days during the last two weeks in May.
• The pickled vegetable industry has its own trade association: Pickle Packers International, Inc.
• During WWII, the U.S. Government tagged 40% of all pickle production for the ration kits of the armed forces.