The Launch
Stellar Snacks is closing out its highest-volume year with the debut of Baked with Olive Oil Pretzel Braids, a six-flavor extension rolling out exclusively at Sprouts Farmers Market nationwide. The line — which includes four returning profiles and two new additions, Elote Loco (Mexican street corn) and Spicy Flame (habanero and paprika) — targets snackers seeking a seed-oil-free salty snack option. All SKUs are vegan, non-GMO, kosher, and free of top allergens.
The Sprouts exclusivity gives the women-owned, Carson City-based brand a specialty-channel anchor as it pursues mainstream volume at Target, Kroger, Albertsons/Safeway, Publix, and select Costco locations. That mass-and-club footprint has fueled a dramatic door count run-up: Stellar ended 2025 at roughly 12,000 retail doors and expects to close 2026 at approximately 18,000 — a 50.0% increase the company calls its biggest expansion year since founding in 2019.
The Numbers
Category scanner data underscores the momentum. According to SPINS, Stellar's multi-outlet (MULO) sales grew 205.0% over the trailing 52 weeks versus the prior year. Average ACV distribution in MULO reached 20.0%, up 14.3 points year-over-year. In the Total U.S. Grocery channel, Stellar accounted for 27.0% of all pretzel category growth in the four weeks ending October 4 — a striking share of increment for a brand that did not exist seven years ago. SPINS ranks it the fastest-growing nationally distributed pretzel brand in the U.S. food market.
Private equity is backing the trajectory. Main Post Partners made a strategic investment in Stellar earlier this year to fund the next phase of product, flavor, and pack-size development. "The shift towards 'better for you' snacking will also contribute to sustained market share growth among the major segments of the Salty Snack category," said Aidan McAuley, Senior Executive Vice President of Sales.
Channel Relevance
For c-store buyers, the Stellar story maps onto a well-documented shift in the salty snacks category toward premium, clean-label formats. NACS data consistently shows salty snacks as a top-five in-store category by sales contribution, and the pretzel segment has benefited disproportionately from flavor innovation — the same lever Stellar is pulling with Elote Loco and Spicy Flame. Seed-oil-free positioning also aligns with emerging consumer demand that better-for-you snacking trends are surfacing in convenience as operators refresh their center-store sets.
Stellar's distribution story began on airline trays — Southwest Airlines serves the brand's pretzels to hundreds of millions of passengers annually — and has migrated to grocery and club. C-store distribution is a logical next step as the brand approaches 18,000 doors and builds brand recognition across travel and everyday-occasion channels. Andy Yee, Stellar's Senior Brand Manager, noted that the olive oil line gives consumers "more options" while preserving "the same authentically baked braids and bold flavors our fans love."
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.
