Since Henry Martin began baking pretzels on his Akron, Pennsylvania, property in 1932, Martin’s Pretzels has remained a family-run bakery making Lancaster County hard pretzels by hand. Now led by Christine and Dwayne Martin, the next generation continues the original recipe and hands-on method, producing more than 22,000 pretzels a day without mass production. The bakery still operates in the building Henry rebuilt in 1946 after a barn fire, and ships its old-fashioned, stone-oven-baked pretzels nationwide.
The Pretzel CompanyIn York County, Pennsylvania’s “Pretzel Country,” The Pretzel Company bakes hand-twisted soft pretzels to order and ships them fresh nationwide. Founded by two brothers and their friends as York City Pretzel Company on December 5, 2014, the family-owned bakery grew from a 1,200-square-foot shop into an online business with a team of more than two dozen and baking capacity three times its original scale. Its pretzels are still made by hand in small batches with six simple ingredients, then individually wrapped for delivery.YORK, PA
Tom Sturgis PretzelsTom Sturgis Pretzels is a Shillington, Pennsylvania bakery making crunchy, stone-hearth-baked pretzels with old-fashioned techniques adapted to modern equipment. Established by Tom M.D. Sturgis in 1946, it remains a Sturgis family operation, with fifth-generation descendants of Julius Sturgis producing pretzels today and the bakery at its current location since 1970. The company traces its roots to America’s first commercial pretzel bakery, founded by Julius Sturgis in Lititz in 1861, and still bakes some pretzels on soapstone hearths.READING, PA
Benzel's Bretzel Bakery, IncFounded in Altoona in 1911 by German immigrant Adolph Benzel, Benzel’s Bretzel Bakery makes pretzels and remains one of the few manufacturers devoted exclusively to them. More than a century later, its research and development work and recently upgraded production lines support both its Benzel’s and Pennysticks brands as well as private-label and contract production.ALTOONA, PA
Ditsch USA LLCFounded in 1919 as a small family bakery in Mainz, Ditsch USA LLC makes authentic German-style pretzels and other baked snack products for customers across the United States. The Cincinnati-based operation grew from the 2017 acquisition of Pretzel Baron and is part of a business that produces more than one billion pretzel specialties and snacks each year. Ditsch’s U.S. facilities extend a century of pretzel craftsmanship into a global B2B network serving more than 30 countries.CINCINNATI, OH