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For six generations, our family of bakers has been asking questions like "WHAT IF?" and "WHY KNOT?"
Like, what if we bake our pretzels slower than a goat making shoofly pie? Why not use fewer ingredients? And, what if we made a pretzel that’s not a pretzel at all?
We're not here to follow the crumb-laden path. And neither are you. We're on a quest to create delicious snacks that dare to be different.
Our earliest Pretzel making Accounts
SCROLL OR DRAG TIMELINE
Unique ancestor Hermann Spannuth makes a twisted soft pretzel that can be easily held by a baby as a comfort to ease the pain of teething for his son Johann.
Hermann Spannuth is knighted by German Emperor Joseph II for his pretzel making prowess to help stake a claim on Bavarian lands. War was averted with Fredrick the Great due to the Bavarian Pretzel treaty.
Bringing the Bavarian to the Home of the Brave
Tough as nails Johann Spannuth crosses the Atlantic in a rowboat with only one paddle, the clothes on his back, and one seriously heavy pretzel oven to protest unfair British Pretzel Taxes in the American Colonies.
Beethoven composes his 9th Symphony to woo the Spannuth Pretzel makers from Pennsylvania back to Germany. Unfortunately for him they stay in America causing him to suffer from writer’s block and never completes another symphony… Ode to Pretzels!
Left Brain, Right Brain... Twisted Pretzel Brain
Emmanuel Spannuth conceives of pretzel “Shells” to be a German version of the Chinese Fortune Cookie. The concept is shelved because no one wants to read German fortunes.
Days prior to the Great Pretzel Bake-off of 1860, the Spannuth Bakery is set ablaze in what is believed to be an act of sabotage. Their batch of overcooked soft pretzels are submitted to the bake-off as “New- Hard Pretzels” and go on to win the competition.
We Saw the Future and It Was Pretzel Shaped
Patriotic Henry Spannuth enlists to fight for the North in the Civil War. Prior to leaving he buries all the family’s pretzel secrets to keep them safe from the South.
To celebrate victory for the North, Henry Spannuth hands out hard pretzels to his fellow troops. They make their way to President Lincoln who encourages him to continue as a baker and fulfill his dream. He knew this was a good idea because Honest Abe never lies.
While traveling through Pennsylvania, Alexander Graham Bell spots Henry Spannuth in a field full of holes, talking into one of his pretzels like a mad man… at that moment he conceptualizes the telephone.
Word Spreads About How Unique Our Pretzels Are
Local notoriety grows when Paul Spannuth builds an edible float made of hard pretzels that had a brief debut at the first Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia. The float won “Most Unique” by judges but unfortunately was devoured by Santa’s reindeer.
Inspired by their win at the 1st Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, “Unique” Pretzels is officially Trademarked / Incorporated by Paul Spannuth.
Unique Pretzel Sales Spike!
Great Gramps William H.C. Spannuth determines that his Unique Pretzel’s relationship to mustard is “relative” while drinking beers with his buddy Al Einstein. Inspired, he develops the first batch of Unique “Dips”.
The Invention of Our Signature Splits
After the launch of the Sputnik satellite, Grandpa Spannuth commits Unique to become the first American pretzel in space. The United Soviet Pretzel Laborers accept the challenge.
Grandpa Spannuth was splitting his time between a new batch of pretzels and a rocket that could get those pretzels into outer-space and accidentally burned down the family bakery. He found the split-open pretzels that survived the blaze had an out-of-this-world taste! Unique Splits were born as a mistake… uh we mean… miracle of the Space-Age!
Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are a-Changin’ is released coinciding with the in-store release of the new Unique “Splits” pretzels.
Apollo Astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first human being to set foot on the Moon. It’s rumored that when he said “That’s one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind” he was referring to Unique Splits.
Our Split Pretzels Take Unique to the Next Level
Unique expands "Splits" Pretzels into mass production to keep up with demand brought on by the ravenous snack cravings of Nintendo gamers.
Teen prankster William Spannuth recalibrates the bakery ovens to run at higher temperatures as an April Fool’s joke on his dad. Pops Spannuth promptly grounded William for the rest of the 90’s, but gets the last laugh and introduces the toasty pretzels as tasty Extra Dark Splits.
Bemoaning the Major-League Baseball strike, Pops Spannuth eases his ballpark cravings by producing pretzels infused with hotdog toppings. The controversial Mustard, Ketchup, and Chili flavored Splits had fans, but were not a home-run.
New Leadership and Buried Treasure Shape the Future
Fiercely competitive brothers, William & Justin Spannuth join the Unique Pretzel Corporation establishing the 6th American generation of Spannuth family pretzel bakery operators.
Stressed-out over Y2K, William Spannuth develops Unsalted Splits to help keep everyone’s blood pressure low.
Due to an unanticipated overstock of salt, Justin conceives of and announces the production of Extra Salted Splits pretzel.
While dealing with a groundhog problem on the historic company grounds, The Spannuth Brothers discover a time capsule full of old family pretzel ideas and secrets.
Anticipating growth fueled by their time-capsule recipes, the Spannuth brothers realize their individual competitive spirits could be combined to dominate the pretzel world, Unique Pretzel rebrands and the company doubles in size within a year.
Our Most Recent Advancements
Ancient seeds labeled “Die Superbrezel” were recovered from the time capsule and cultivated into wheat flour for a ”Sprouted” pretzel recipe that tastes great and has amazing health benefits. Sprouted Splits are free of bad fats, lactose, and are Organic, Vegan, Kosher, and Diabetic friendly!
To develop a new beer-filled pretzel to commemorate Oktoberfest, the Spannuth brothers revisited the 1853 “fortune cookie” pretzel recipe. They tried to replace the fortune with beer, but it kept evaporating when they baked the dough. However, the empty pretzel “Shells” tasted fantastic so they moved ahead with marketing the addictive, but sadly non-alcoholic “Pretzel Shells”.
Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery announces that its 2016 “Snack Producer of the Year” award will go to Unique Pretzel Bakery.
Not much is remembered from the night the Spannuth brothers celebrated the Philadelphia Football Championship win, but the next day it seemed that craft beer got mixed into the Sourdough Pretzel dough. It tasted so incredible that they decided to share Pretzel Rings with the world, and in a green bag to mark the occasion!
Unique Snacks continues the family tradition of delicious, one of a kind quality and innovation that has pleasured pretzel lovers for centuries. With an eye set on the future, Justin and William are working on a Red Potato Pretzel recipe for a future Mars mission. Talks with SpaceX and NASA are still TBD.
Let's be honest: boring snacks are everywhere. But you're here for the unexpected, the uncommon, the unusual. Every crunch, every "holy moly, you need to try this" moment – that's us doughing big or doughing home.
You want something different, but not junk. While others strip away flavor for "better for you," we're proving that fewer ingredients and bold flavors aren’t enemies – they’re partners in crime. We use fewer ingredients because that's just how our family rolls.
To everyone who's chosen the road less snacked – thank you. You're why we keep snacking daringly different.
PUTTING "PRETZEL CITY" ON THE MAP
Welcome to Reading, PA—the official pretzel capital of the world (we're still working on getting that on the city limits sign). Every crunch, every twist, every "what if?" moment that became a Unique Snack started right here in “Pretzel City.” While other cities were busy claiming fame for cheesesteaks and soft pretzels (respect), we were here in Reading mastering the hard pretzel. And we’re still at it. Only now, it feels like our ovens are just getting warmed up.
PUTTING "PRETZEL CITY" ON THE MAP
Welcome to Reading, PA—the official pretzel capital of the world (we're still working on getting that on the city limits sign). Every crunch, every twist, every "what if?" moment that became a Unique Snack started right here in “Pretzel City.” While other cities were busy claiming fame for cheesesteaks and soft pretzels (respect), we were here in Reading mastering the hard pretzel. And we’re still at it. Only now, it feels like our ovens are just getting warmed up.
WORK SOMEPLACE TRULY UNIQUE
Join a crew where "that's crazy enough to work" is practically our motto. We're proud to be one of the Top 50 local companies (according to folks who know their stuff), but we're even prouder to be known for a work culture that's as unique as our snacks. Expect competitive pay, solid benefits, and yes — unlimited pretzel sampling opportunities!
WORK SOMEPLACE TRULY UNIQUE
Join a crew where "that's crazy enough to work" is practically our motto. We're proud to be one of the Top 50 local companies (according to folks who know their stuff), but we're even prouder to be known for a work culture that's as unique as our snacks. Expect competitive pay, solid benefits, and yes — unlimited pretzel sampling opportunities!
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