Hershey Pretzels Now Leaving Factory On Foot

MINOT, N.D.—Pretzels at a fictional salty snack plant outside Minot began leaving the building on foot this week, plant staff said, after concluding that the trucks were not coming fast enough.

The departures follow Hershey's acknowledgment, reported by Food Dive, that demand for its salty snacks is outstripping supply. Supply problems in Dot's Pretzels and multipacks have weighed on production for at least two quarters. Salty snack net sales still rose 22.3% in the third quarter, and new manufacturing lines are expected to start running in the first half of 2027.

"The trucks hold 22 pallets," said Wayne Ostrander, 52, a fictional shift foreman. "The pretzels figured out they hold zero pallets and do not need a truck. They just go. We see them on the frontage road around 6 a.m. in a line. Very orderly. They yield to traffic."

said Wayne Ostrander, 52, a fictional shift foreman.

Pretzels Per Hour, Leaving By Truck vs. On Foot

Period	Pretzels Per Hour, Leaving By Truck vs. On Foot
Mon	4K
Tue	9K
Wed	17K
Thu	26K
Fri	38K

Source: The Daily SKU Supply Chain Desk; a fictional foreman with a clicker and a sore thumb

By Friday the plant had posted a crossing guard at the county road and issued each pretzel a fictional bill of lading, Form BL-9, folded into the twist. Ostrander said compliance has been good. "They are pretzels," he said. "They are used to being folded."

A fictional logistics analyst in Fargo said walking freight is cheaper than trucking on a per-mile basis but loses ground on anything over 40 miles. "The nearest distribution center is 112 miles away," said Lena Hoyt, of the fictional firm Laneworks. "Some of them are going to be stale on arrival. Some of them were going to be stale anyway. It is a salty snack."

Shrink wrap at the plant, for the record, is a solid 7 out of 10: tight on the corners, a little loose on the top tier. The pretzels did not use any of it.

Container DSKU 401177-3 reached Day 935 this morning. I checked at 5:40 a.m., one minute earlier than yesterday. It has not moved. Several pretzels have now covered more ground this week than the container has since April 2024.

Plant management said the walkouts should end when the new lines start in 2027. The pretzels have not been told about the new lines, a spokesman said, "because we do not know how they would take it."

Gus Ternberg covers supply chain and is still tracking Container DSKU 401177-3. Status: in transit. More from Gus Ternberg ›

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