Milwaukee Pretzel Co. | Milwaukee
Founded: 2013 | Employees: 100
milwaukeepretzel.com
Milwaukee Pretzel Co. has been in business for more than a decade and experienced consistent growth. Founded by Matt and Katie Wessel, the company doubled production capacity this year at its facility on Milwaukee’s northwest side.
When did you know you would launch Milwaukee Pretzel Co. and what was the biggest concern you needed to overcome to do it?
Matt Wessel and Katie Wessel, owners: “We came up with the idea to start making and selling Bavarian pretzels after spending a year in Munich, Germany. We fell in love with their pretzels and how engrained they were in their culture. We wanted to bring that experience to our friends and family in Milwaukee. There was very little hesitancy or concern on our part, to be honest. We were eager entrepreneurs that saw an opportunity and just went after it. Starting a company prior to having children helped ease any concerns!”
What are the next key steps in the development of your company?
“We just opened an additional 28,000 square feet at our production facility here in Milwaukee, which gives us a footprint to scale up production quite a bit beyond where we’re at today. That means some of the pressure in 2025 will fall to sales and the desire to start to fill that added capacity. Beyond that, we continue to look at ways to improve processes and manage costs by leveraging improvements that come with scale.”
What are your goals for the next three to five years?
“Honestly, the main goal is to keep enjoying what we’re doing, to make good, strategic decisions that benefit the team we have here, and to continue to maintain a ‘rapid but managed’ pace to what we do. Milwaukee pretzels are no longer just a Milwaukee food item (we’re in over 20 states currently), so continuing to enter new parts of the country is an annual goal.”
What do you consider your biggest breakthrough so far?
“I’m not sure if I would call it a breakthrough, but it certainly was an ‘Aha!’ moment. As we started to grow in the early years, it was a tremendous experience for us to see how the employees we hired to do a basic task or two would ultimately help us innovate, help us watch costs, informally lead teams, find solutions to problems, etc. Our growth is so deeply tied to the amazing people who work here. We have a high-performing team that we are very proud of. Learning how to leverage our team’s strengths and helping them grow – and just hiring them in general – has been one of the most rewarding parts of owning this business.”
