Casual Conversation

It's far more common in the US now, but I remember being really pleased when I discovered Dot's Pretzels when they were pretty uncommon. The powder on them is messy but delicious.

investigates

Ah. It sounds like Hershey bought them and built up greatly-scaled-up production elsewhere. Used to be a little company, and I had to mail-order them. That'd explain why they're everywhere now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot%27s_Pretzels

The brand was founded by Dorothy Henke who began making them at her winter residence in Goodyear, Arizona, and then later in a factory at her hometown in Velva, North Dakota.[2] In 2012, she appeared at Pride of Dakota.[3]

The company was acquired for $1.2 billion in 2021 by Hershey[4] and was added to Hershey's existing portfolio of snack foods which included Pirate's Booty and SkinnyPop.[5][6]

In 2023, the main factory in Velva was closed and the employees were laid off.[7] Todd Scott, of Hershey, said in an interview “due to the physical limitations of the building and cost associated with the Velva facility, it has led us to the hard decision to cease operations and close the facility. Our goal is to ensure everyone is supported during this period of change.” They offered relocation plans to the employees.[8]

EDIT: Inspired by that, I just grabbed some at the store and discovered that apparently there are even store brand clones out there now.

EDIT2: Which are less messy but IMHO don't taste as good.