There are few things better than biting into a warm, salty pretzel. At Wetzel's Pretzels, that's the bread and butter, so to speak, but the brand is known for so much more.

Wetzel's has been experiencing record growth outside of malls, the company's staple location for many years. The brand is on the move, and Jon Fischer, head of development, said there's a great team behind it.

Jon Fischer, head of development, Wetzel's Pretzels

In 2023, the brand broke records for the most store openings in a year and then broke that record in 2024. Today, the company is nearly 450 units.

"We're on two years in a row of record growth," Fischer said in a phone interview. "We're growing at a pace of more than 10% of our store count, which is a pretty heft pace for a brand that's now 30 years old. We're certainly finding a lot of success and there's a lot of things that drive that."

Fischer said the team in place is helping the company grow, and as recently as five or six years ago was fixated on shopping malls as their vessels for growth. Today, however, Wetzel's Pretzels is focusing on any high-traffic areas and its food truck program that "brings pretzels to the people," Fischer said. "We have great partnerships with Walmart and Macy's where we've been standing in really high traffic areas."

Wetzel's opened its first international location, in Indonesia, last year with a master franchise agreement that covers the entire country. That partner has thousands of retail operations already and knew what they were doing when it came to bringing a new brand to the market. They've opened three stores in a matter of months in Indonesia and are working on the fourth. Fischer said the model can work in a variety of different countries because it sells warm, soft bread — a staple in many cultures.

When it comes to international growth, the interest in the snack market, particularly pretzels, makes people want to try Wetzel's food and drinks. Finding the right international partners is paramount to success in foreign markets. The brand will be announcing new partners in international markets soon "who understand the simplicity of the brand and have the capacity to do real estate in the country and run the operations."

Photo: Wetzel's Pretzels

Speaking of brand culture, Fischer said it's fun and it's contagious. He said when he joined the company from pizza brand Papa Murphy's more than five years ago he discovered "there's such a fun, fresh, happy kind of vibe when you're giving people pretzels. I think it's contagious to our owners. They really like the business."

The idea of bringing "pretzels to the people" proved clearly effective a couple of years ago when Wetzel's Pretzels had a float in the Rose Bowl Parade. The troupe walking with the float would yell "pretzels to the people" to the crowd who would then yell it back. It became a bit of a war cry for the brand, but in reality, that's what the brand has been doing — finding the right location for a Wetzel's Pretzels — whether that's a brick-and-mortar store or a food truck that can be parked at Little League games or community events, or restaurants built in military bases, travel plazas and convenience stores.

"On the domestic side, we're pretty much a national brand now," Fischer said. "We started on the coasts and kind of worked our way in, but there certainly are markets in the Midwest and Southeast and the Rust Belt that we haven't really addressed in the past. Every year, we look at the next six or seven states where we want to move into. In some states, they only have one or two malls that we would traditionally be in."

Going into Walmart locations has helped the brand reach customers who normally may not be able to enjoy a local Wetzel's Pretzel. And some existing malls may have competitors who block Wetzel's Pretzels from entering.

Fischer said research has found Americans are snacking more often, and the snack space favors Wetzel's Pretzels as Americans are enjoying more mini-meals,. A pretzel and a lemonade fit that bill perfectly.

The availability of refreshing drinks beyond soda also favors the brand, which has served up items like frozen hot chocolate and flavored boba drinks. Throwback items like strawberry funnel cake bits and an orange Dreamsicle drink were formulated for Wetzel's 30th anniversary last year.

"It's been a combination of adding limited and permanent additional items onto our menu … but also trying to follow those trends of nostalgia as well as more options and variety of offerings," Fischer said. "We've been pretty innovative about that, and we have a lot of great things planned for this year as well."

Wetzel's Pretzels plans to test a breakfast menu, which will roll out in select markets that have the foot traffic to support it. Adding breakfast will be the decision of the franchisee.

There's more to it than a frozen breakfast sandwich and pre-made parfaits, Fischer said. The breakfast sandwiches will be made fresh with Wetzel's Pretzels dough and the menu has small sausages rolled in the pretzel dough that can be dipped in syrup.

"It's just taking that pretzel platform and saying 'hey, we can do stuff for breakfast,' and that's something we're excited to roll out this year," Fischer said.

When it comes to seeking out franchisees, Fischer said the brand has a great training program for those who share the brand's passion and want to engage in their communities. They must also understand and appreciate Wetzel's Pretzels' values.

"The best thing about working for Wetzel's is the product is the best," Fischer said. "Once people try it, they come back for it because they realize it's the best product out there. I think snacking's here to stay and it's a good segment to be in."