Boom Box Pretzels

Downers Grove is tuning in to a new kind of snack

BY MAUREEN CALLAHAN

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF BOOM BOX PRETZELS AND BLACKBOX STUDIOS

Mister Salty, beware. There’s a new sheriff in town. While pretzels are traditionally the mundane suspects in the snack lineup, Boom Box pretzels are on track to redefine snacking in general. Try one and you’ll never look back. Ever. Extend your hand to Mike Scheffki and notice the pretzel tattoo just above his inner right wrist. He is all in. And it tastes like it!

One of the few positives afforded us by the recent pandemic was time. People had plenty of time at home to think. And snack. Starting a business had always been in the back of Mike and wife Carrie’s minds. Their individual experience in marketing and finance, garnered at Kraft Foods where they first met, made them realize that longtime dream. With the help of some friends experienced in the packaged goods industry, Boom Box Pretzels very successfully launched on March 1, 2021. The pilot event at Orange and Brew Tap Room on Burlington saw the inventory sell out within an hour and a half!

Eat one and you’ll understand why. Carrie, the culinary adventurer, comes up with the flavors. Daughters Casey and Zoey serve as taste testers. Of the decisions on seasoning, Mike has this to say: “We like our flavors like we like our music. Loud. When you hear your favorite song, you turn it up, not down.” The dial needs no adjustment on all four varieties, each of which pair well with craft beers. The tie-in between Boom Box and the local brewing scene is intentional.

Deep Dish tastes like you’ve just bitten into a slice of Giordano’s. Fried Pickle has a tangy/kosher-dill taste. Spicy Nacho Mama is volumes cheesier and spicier than any plate of chips. French Toast rounds out the delectable offerings with hints of cinnamon and sugar. Each carefully thought-out detail from the heat/sweet/savory meter on the outside of the box, to the fresh keeping silver bag on the inside- delivers an unforgettable snacking experience.

So far, pretzels are available only in individual 2 oz. size boxes. Try the most popular item, a “mix tape:” one box of each flavor. This is a family business in the true sense of the words. Mike and Carrie rent a commercial kitchen and do all their own baking in the off-hours. Right now, that means lots of late nights and early mornings. If things keep going well, however, it’s likely they’ll eventually move to a more traditional space. “In addition to manufacturing, my wife and I are also the marketing, R&D and finance departments,” Mike says. Casey and Zoey help with the social media presence. Then there are logistics. While Boom Box’s largest market is still primarily local, Mike can be spotted at the Downers Grove post office early in the morning, shipping inventory to forty-eight states, so far.

And the music tie-in? Mike grew up in the punk rock era, hanging out with skaters in the south suburbs. The individualistic, ‘do-it-yourself’ mentality of that scene is the ethos of Boom Box. “Much to their chagrin, I always tell my kids that when I was their ages, you had to work for your music,” he reflects. “That was the era of waiting for your favorite songs to come on the radio and having your boom box ready to record them. Now with iTunes and Spotify, they have no idea of the effort that went into making a mix tape,” Mike laughs. Still, Mike and Carrie foster their love of music with their kids by bringing them to concerts and Lollapalooza in normal years.

In the end, Mike and Carrie hope to instill a few of the family’s business themes into their children’s lives. The first is confidence. “Whatever you want to do, do it,” Mike tells his girls. He also hopes they understand that attitudes are catching. “If you have faith in your idea- with a hunger to get it right- others will get on board. Lastly, however you choose to do it, you cannot replace making your mark on this world,” Mike says with a smile. ■

THE SCHEFFKI FAMILY TAKES THE SNACK TO A NEW LEVEL.