From chocolate bars to tasty Kisses, The Hershey Company is known all over for its candy. After all, it also owns brands like Payday, Reese’s, and Jolly Ranchers. However, the company now plans to move into salty snacks – and it will start by acquiring Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels.
Hershey’s and Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels
That’s right – Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels will soon become a The Hershey Company brand! The company said last week that it will pay a whopping $1.2 billion for North Dakota-based company Dot’s Pretzels LLC. The deal also includes Pretzels Inc., an Indiana-based manufacturer that oversees the production of Dot’s at its three plants. Both parties hope to have the deal closed by the end of this year.
The Hershey Company President and CEO Michele Buck has nothing but nice things to say about the deal, nothing that Dot’s remains the fastest-growing pretzel brand in the United States. Likewise, Dorothy Henke, Dot’s Pretzels CEO, also feels that the deal will lead to nothing but good things.
“I am proud of the progress that we’ve made as a team and am confident Hershey’s will help take a great brand we built here in North Dakota and get Dot’s Pretzels into even more people’s hands – and hearts!” Henke said in a statement. We should state: the deal is not official. According to a Dot’s spokesperson, the acquisition still needs to go through regulatory reviews. However, it is expected to sail through without any issue, meaning more salty snacks for The Hershey Company!
More Salty Snacks
The Hershey Company, based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, has been slowly moving into the salty snack business for some time now. Most notably, the company owns the popular snack Pirate’s Booty and the low-calorie popcorn brand Skinny Pop. Both saw sales grow by more than twenty percent last year.
If you love Dot’s, don’t worry! Not much is expected to change after the deal closes later this year. The current leadership team will continue to run the company in their current roles. Likewise, all four of its factory locations, in North Dakota, Kansas, and Arizona, will continue production as usual. Really, the only thing changing is the top brass and the backs of the bags – they’ll now carry a small The Hershey Company logo.
For those who don’t know, Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels started more than a decade ago, all thanks to the founder Dot Henke. He began making pretzels in his kitchen to get his family through the winters – and people love them. Now, they make nearly $300 million a year in sales. No wonder the Hershey Company wanted a piece of that pie – and now they have it!