Rold Gold refers to first a company and then a remaining
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
of
pretzels
A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...
, now owned by
Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavor ...
. The company, originally named "American Cone and Pretzel Company", was founded in 1917 by
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
businessman
Lorraine Schumaker.
Run for its first half century as a
family business
A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...
, Rold Gold expanded its operations to
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, and
El Segundo, California
El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 16,731 as of th ...
, and established a reputation for producing pretzels. From 1921 until 1955, the company also owned the Continental Packing Company, a
pimento
A pimiento or pimento (or cherry pepper) is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper (''Capsicum annuum'') that measures 3 to 4 in (7 to 10 cm) long and 2 to 3 in (5 to 7 cm) wide (medium, elongate).
Pimientos can have vario ...
canning plant located near
Macon, Georgia
Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...
, but sold that part of the business in 1955, in response to increasing competition from overseas
canners. The Schumaker family sold Rold Gold to Red Dot Foods Inc. of
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
, in 1960, but the deal fell through when Red Dot went bankrupt and its principal owner committed suicide. Frito-Lay then purchased Rold Gold in 1961, and has owned the pretzel company ever since.
In the years since its purchase by Frito-Lay, Rold Gold has expanded its sales nationwide. While on-bag advertising formerly stated that Rold Gold was "America's No. 1 Pretzel", when measured by total dollar sales in the United States, Rold Gold was the #2 pretzel brand behind
Snyder's of Hanover
Snyder's of Hanover is an American bakery and pretzel brand distribution company based in Hanover, Pennsylvania, specializing in German traditional pretzels. Its products are sold throughout the United States, Canada, many European nations, Asia, ...
as of 2014.
Rold Gold pretzels offer a range of pretzel and snack products. All of these items are
baked
Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...
, not
fried, and most are
lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar synthesized by galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from ' (gen. '), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix '' - ...
free.
References
External links
*
Brand name snack foods
Frito-Lay brands
Pretzels
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