Stellar Snacks has launched Stellar Pretzel Braids – Baked with Olive Oil, a six-flavor line rolling out exclusively at Sprouts Farmers Market nationwide, as the brand accelerates toward roughly 18,000 retail doors by year-end 2026 — a 50% increase over its approximately 12,000-door footprint at the close of 2025.

The new line is positioned squarely at the seed-oil-free segment, using olive oil in place of the commodity vegetable oils common across the salty snack category. All six SKUs carry the brand's existing clean-label stack: vegan, non-GMO, Kosher-certified, and free of artificial flavors and top allergens including peanuts and soy. The olive oil braids are baked from scratch daily, consistent with Stellar's production model, and use the same sustainably harvested flour base as the original Pretzel Braids line.

The Six-SKU Lineup

Four flavors transfer from existing Stellar seasoning profiles — Maui Monk (Maui onion with a sweet finish), Bold & Herby (roasted garlic and onion), Cinnamon Dolce (cinnamon and brown sugar), and French Dijon — while two are brand-new additions: Elote Loco, a Mexican street corn-style seasoning, and Spicy Flame, built around habanero and paprika. The flavor architecture spans sweet and savory, reflecting broader snack seasoning trends that have driven premiumization across the pretzel segment.

Distribution & Velocity Metrics

According to SPINS data cited by the company, Stellar remains the fastest-growing nationally distributed pretzel brand in the U.S. food market. Over the last 52 weeks, MULO sales grew 205% versus the prior year, while average ACV distribution in MULO reached 20%, up 14.3 percentage points. In the Total U.S. Grocery channel, Stellar accounted for 27% of all pretzel category growth in the four weeks ending October 4. That velocity supported phased retail expansion throughout 2026, adding Kroger, Albertsons/Safeway, and Publix nationwide earlier in the year, followed by a nationwide Target rollout and a new multipack for the club channel over the summer.

The brand's distribution footprint also benefits from a long-standing airline partnership with Southwest Airlines, where Stellar pretzels reach hundreds of millions of passengers annually — a channel that has historically served as both volume offtake and brand-awareness driver ahead of retail placement.

Investment & Supply Outlook

Strategic investment from Main Post Partners, completed earlier in 2026, is intended to fund the current growth phase, including product, flavor, and pack-size innovation. For food manufacturers and co-manufacturers evaluating better-for-you snack formulations, the olive oil positioning — combined with allergen-free and non-GMO credentials — reflects a formulation strategy increasingly common among better-for-you salty snack brands competing for shelf space in natural and specialty channels. Stellar Snacks is one of only a handful of dedicated pretzel manufacturers operating in the U.S., and it describes itself as the only women-owned operation in that set.

Andy Yee, Stellar's Senior Brand Manager, noted that the olive oil line gives consumers a format choice without departing from the brand's core baked-from-scratch positioning. The Baked with Olive Oil Pretzel Braids began hitting retail shelves in October 2026, with full Sprouts availability expected by late October.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.