Auntie Anne'S(R) Celebrates October's National Pretzel Month

Auntie Anne's
Published: October 3rd, 2008

Limited Time Promotion Offers Consumers Twice the Pretzel Fun

Lancaster, Pa. - Auntie Anne's® Pretzels, known for freshly baked, hand-rolled soft pretzels, today celebrates the beginning of National Pretzel Month by offering its loyal customers a "double up" promotion and releasing some little known pretzel fun facts.

The pretzel has come a long way since it was first created in 610 A.D. by an Italian monk who twisted leftover dough to resemble his students, who folded their arms across their chests when praying. The finished product, called "pretiolas," or "little rewards" in Latin, spread throughout Europe and was considered a symbol of good luck, long life, and prosperity.

Now, the annual United States pretzel industry is worth over $550 million, and the average American consumes about 1.5 pounds of pretzels per year. Southeastern Pennsylvania, home to Auntie Anne's corporate headquarters, is considered the birthplace of the American pretzel industry.1

In honor of National Pretzel Month, Auntie Anne's is offering customers an 'any two' combo at all of its U.S. locations. During this promotion, customers can choose two items among the Pretzel Stix and Pretzel Dog offerings for a value price when they purchase the products together. For instance, they can choose a Pretzel Dog and an order of Cinnamon Sugar Stix, or two orders of Stix, or two Pretzel Dogs. The promotion will continue to be offered until Nov. 2.

"Throughout our 20 years of business, consumers around the world have enjoyed the fresh-from-the-oven quality and signature taste of our hand-rolled soft pretzels. We're appreciative of the millions of loyal customers who have made eating an Auntie Anne's pretzel part of their shopping, traveling, and entertainment experiences," said Auntie Anne's President and CEO Samuel R. Beiler.

Based in Lancaster, Pa., Auntie Anne's has more than 300 franchisees in over 950 locations in 19 countries. The company has been ranked number one in the pretzel category by Entrepreneur's Franchise Survey for six years, and in 2007, Auntie Anne's announced annual sales figures topping $300 million. And that's not the only way Auntie Anne's makes its mark:

• Auntie Anne's makes over 500,000 pretzels every two days, which is enough to feed the entire population of Auntie Anne's home of Lancaster County, Pa.
• You could fill the seats in Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, with the number of Pretzel Dogs Auntie Anne's sells in a single weekend.
• Traveling to Singapore? Try a seaweed-flavored pretzel on the beach. Fancy a pretzel with dates? Then hop on a plane to Saudi Arabia to try this specialty Auntie Anne's flavor.
• Every year, Auntie Anne's rolls over 95 million pretzels. If pretzels were dollars, that would pay the salary of Johnny Depp, last year's highest paid actor according to FORBES magazine.
• In June 2006, Auntie Anne's sold its billionth pretzel. That's billionth!
• * The biggest pretzel ever baked spanned 12 feet across, and was created by Auntie Anne's franchisees from Lake Charles, LA.
• While it typically takes between eight and 10 seconds to roll an Auntie Anne's pretzel, the fastest pretzel rolled on record took just four seconds.

About Auntie Anne's

Celebrating its 20th year of operation, Auntie Anne's is the leader in the broader category of on-the-go snacks. Auntie Anne's mixes, twists, and bakes pretzels to golden brown perfection in full view of customers. Auntie Anne's is committed to pretzel perfection by guaranteeing you will love its pretzels or they will replace them with ones that you do.