Taste Test: VKI Crowned Austria's Most Popular Pickles

Few foods divide tastes as much as pickles – some love them, others turn up their noses. In the new test format "Taste:Check", the Association for Consumer Information (VKI) invited consumers across Austria to taste and evaluate the pickles blindly. The result: No product achieved a "very good", but three types of pickles were particularly well received by the test subjects.

Pickles Blind Tasted by Consumers in "Taste:Check"

The special feature of the new "Taste:Check" format: The products are not examined in the laboratory, but are evaluated purely sensorily. The consumers take on the role of testers – professionally accompanied and without manufacturer information. Appearance, smell, consistency, crunchiness, taste, and overall impression were evaluated – as well as the question of whether one would buy the product.

In the first round, ten different gherkin products were put to the test – conventional and organic, brand and private label. Only sweet and sour small-sized pickles were tasted.

Three Products Rated "Good"

With 67 out of 100 possible points, Machland Cornichons took first place and, according to VKI, can be called "Austria's most popular pickles". Close behind were Billa Bio-Cornichons (66 points) and Staud’s Gewürz Piccolo Gurken sweet-sour (65 points).

None of the tested products achieved the rating "very good". The lower-rated pickles are also mentioned in the full evaluation, which is available at www.vki.at/essiggurkerl-2025 and will appear in the October issue of the magazine KONSUMENT from September 25.

Further "Taste:Check" tests with ten products per round are already planned – in the future also for snacks, breakfast items, or trendy foods.

(Red)

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