The company, known in this country for its Avec, K-Kiosk and Caffè Spettacolo formats, wants to grow in the United States.
January 30, 2026, 07:30January 30, 2026, 07:31
Benjamin Weinmann / ch media
At many Swiss train stations there is no getting around them: the Brezelkönig stands from the Valora kiosk group with their pretzel snacks – from sandwiches to hot dogs to sweet baked goods.
Valora now also sells pretzels in the USA.Image: KEYSTONE
Now Valora also wants to convince US customers of its pretzel baked goods – but not with the successful Swiss concept of Brezelkönig. Instead, the company, which has been owned by the Mexican corporation Femsa since 2022, relies on the Ditsch format – the equivalent of Brezelkönig in Germany. Valora had already taken over Ditsch in 2012.
A few days ago, the first Ditsch branch was opened in El Paso, Texas, in a store belonging to the Oxxo chain, which also belongs to Femsa. As stated in a post on Linkedin, the US Ditsch range includes pretzels, pretzel sticks, pizzas and recipes specially designed for local customers such as “Jalapeño & Cheese Pretzel Sticks”. Overall, it is already the eighth Ditsch shop-in-shop at an Oxxo branch, but the first in the USA. According to spokeswoman Daniela Baumann, the first seven are in Mexico.
A Ditsch branch in Mainz.Image: www.imago-images.de
US expansion began in 2017
In 2017, Valora boss Michael Mueller launched a major US offensive with the takeover of the local company Pretzel Baron. This supplies numerous American retailers with frozen pretzel rolls. At that time, Mueller did not rule out expansion with Brezelkönig in the USA and even registered the “King of Pretzels” brand.
The business now runs under the name Ditsch USA. In addition, according to its own information, Valora has become number 1 in the lye market in recent years in terms of volume. Accordingly, last over 900 million pretzels sold. In the USA, so-called Pretzel Bites are popular – pretzel rolls that are usually dipped in melted cheese. They are available in both supermarkets and many restaurants.
About a year ago, Ditsch inaugurated a second factory in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 60 million francs. According to Valora, this could even triple the production volume for the US market.
The silence from Mexico
“Our baked goods offered in El Paso are made in the Ditsch production facilities in Germany and the USA and baked fresh on site,” says Daniela Baumann. With the partnership with Oxxo, the largest convenience chain in Latin America, Ditsch is aiming for growth outside of Germany. Due to its business with frozen products, Ditsch is already an internationally known brand. In other words: Nobody knows Brezelkönig in the USA. Foreign expansion with the Swiss lye brand therefore seems to be ruled out.
Valora currently operates over 170 Ditsch stores, around 70 Brezelkönig sales outlets and over 350 branches of the German chain Backwerk. This was bought in 2017 for 190 million euros. However, since its own takeover by Femsa, Valora, based in Muttenz BL, has communicated little in the way of concrete information. Questions such as how many Ditsch locations are planned in the USA or how sales are divided between business and private customers all remain unanswered. (aargauerzeitung.ch)
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