82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 23, 1993
Hand Rolled Pretzels
You Can Taste The Difference
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
AKRON (Lancaster Co.)
People from all over the world visit
a small pretzel factory located at
1229 Diamond Street in Akron.
They come to buy pretzels, to
watch the workers hand twist the
pretzels with lightening speed, and
to listen to the a capella harmoniz
ing of the assembly-line workers.
With a smile of satisfaction,
Clarence Martin, owner of Mar
tin’s Pretzels, surveys the pretzels
that spill from the bake ovens and
the assembly line workers whose
voices and fingers never miss a
beat as they form soft mounds of
dough'into pretzel shapes and sing
their favorite hymns.’
“What better job could I have?”
he asks, “than to make a product
good for mankind and spread the
joy of the Lord with singing?”
While Lancaster County
abounds with pretzels of all sizes,
shapes, and flavors, Clarence
doesn’t fear competition.
“You can taste the difference,”
he said. “I’m fully sold on my
product.”
So are many of his customers.
One wrote, “Your pretzels are not
the best in Pennsylvania—they’re
the best in the world.”
According to Clarence, the taste
difference does not depend on the
ingredients but on the method.
‘The only way to make a good
pretzel is to hand roll it. The tex
ture is different, the size is diffe
rent, it tastes different,” he said.
That is why an automated pret
zel roller sits silently in the comer
of the building.
Clarence points toward the
machine and says, “With that, it
only takes four people to do the
About 1,600 pounds of pretzels are made dglly.
Clarence Martin, owner of Martin’s Pretzels, insists that pretzels that are hand rolled
taste differently than those rolled by a machine.
work of 10, but the pretzels don’t
taste the same.”
He wants to maintain the same
flavor Martin’s Pretzels had when
the business was founded in the
19305. That was when Clarence’s
Uncle Henry Martin purchased a
pretzel recipe from a man in Read
ing. The uncle began making the
pretzels in a shop in back of his
Akron home. Eighteen years ago,
the uncle sold the business to Clar
ence’s brother, Lloyd, who oper
ated it for 10 years before selling it
to Clarence.
Lloyd had seven children who
he wanted to raise on the farm.
When he sold the business to Clar
ence, it was producing 800 pounds
of pretzels daily. Now, Martin’s
makes 1,600 pounds daily.
Unlike many pretzels, Martin’s
have no shortening in them. Only
flour, salt, and sour dough yeast
are used.
“That makes them crunchier,”
Clarence said.
Customers who prefer crunchy
pretzels send letters proclaiming
their loyalty.
One wrote, “While eating a pre
tzel, I broke off part of a tooth fill
ing. But I would still eat your pret
zels even if I lost all my teeth.”
Letters such as that cause Clar
ence to say, “Can you imagine how
wonderful it is to have a business
that spreads so much joy?”
It confirms that Clarence made
the right decision eight years ago,
when he left his 15-year career as a
construction worker to purchase
Martin’s Pretzels from his brother.
“I like working with people and
making pretzels a lot better than
building houses,” Clarence said.
Apparently his brother missed
the pretzel business, because six
The voices and fingers of the assembly-line workers never miss a beat as they hand
twist pretzels and sing their favorite songs.
: I
r -» I
into a hand cranked apparatus that cuts and shoots out uniform
pieces of dough for the workers to twist Into shape.
years after he sold the business to
Clarence, he opened up a pretzel
company in New York. He uses
the same recipe and also calls them
Martin’s Pretzels.
Another company in Lancaster
County also uses the same recipe
(Turn to Page B 3)
Although he Is 84-years- old, the father of Clarence Martin
packs pretzels daily at the plant.
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