There are a plethora of pretzel styles to satisfy every palate. Into long and thick? Pretzel Rods! Desire short and thin? Pretzel Sticks! Feeling short and chunky? Pretzel Nuggets! Not to mention regular, braided, salted, unsalted, organic, sourdough, soft, hard, honey wheat, chocolate or yogurt covered and peanut butter filled. But Extra Dark? What kind of twisted thinking is behind that kind of pretzel? I wrote Utz Quality Foods to find out…

Dear Snack Chefs:

Being a pretzel lover, I’m open to new twists on pretzel products. However, I can’t quite grasp the appeal behind your Utz Extra Dark Specials Pretzels.

Please correct me if I’m mistaken, but I’m thinking “Extra Dark” is just a fancy way of saying, “We burned these beyond belief!” Is this simply a marketing ploy to reduce pretzel waste by packaging pretzels that got over cooked? What’s next, under cooked pretzels packaged as “Premie” Pretzels?

I give Utz credit for coming up with this innovative idea — although if I wanted to eat something that tasted burnt, I’d cook it myself. Can you please explain the pretzel logic behind this product?

A Customer Care Representative responded with:

Thank you for your letter regarding our Extra Dark Special Pretzels. The Utz Extra Dark Special is a popular snack item with pretzel consumers who crave the flavor profile of this very unique product. The pretzel is formulated, produced, and packaged as an individual item not off standard product. Utz Quality Foods, Inc. does not sell “seconds.”

Thank you for your interest in Utz Quality Foods, Inc.

Final Thoughts: Ironically, I inquired about a subject that is Extra Dark and received a response that is Extra Light. Utz the story with that? Rather than seize the opportunity to enlighten me, Customer Care further kept me in the dark regarding this kind of “special” pretzel. But what makes them so special?

Granted, it’s not easy to make someone salivate about pretzels since they are on the dry side, but surely Utz could have come up with something intriguing to lure me over to the dark side. They know I’m skeptical. What makes Extra Dark pretzels popular? How are they different and unique? What is the flavor profile? Understanding pretzels isn’t always easy. No matter how you twist things, sometimes more information is kneaded and other times it’s knot.

While I can’t speak for Extra Dark, there are many phenomenal pretzel products from Utz, so give them a look. However, when you see a dark side to any product, make an effort to explore it and Write The Company.