A Boston pretzel company earned a coveted spot on this year’s list of Oprah Winfrey’s favorite things, Oprah Magazine said Friday.
A pretzel and salt gift set from Eastern Standard Provisions was one of 78 items to make Winfrey’s exclusive list. Thousands of people have ordered pretzels every hour since the list came out Friday morning as the “Oprah effect” begins to sweep the company.
“We launched in in February this year,” said Bill Deacon , the CEO of the pretzel company. “So for us to sell our first pretzel in May and to get to Oprah’s favorite things in November is sort of a crazy moment for our company.”
The Kenmore Square-based company specializes in making soft pretzels “with the airy qualities of a brioche on the inside and a traditional Bavarian-style crust on the outside,” according to the company’s website.
The pretzel company’s cofounder, restaurateur Garrett Harker , is also the proprietor of the well-known Eastern Standard restaurant in Kenmore Square. Diners at the restaurant can order pretzels from Eastern Standard Provisions, but the companies operate independently from each other.
Eastern Standard Provisions found out its pretzel gift set made the list two months ago, said Mark Dimond , the company’s chief revenue officer. The company sent samples to Oprah Magazine in hopes of making the list.
“It was put in front of Oprah herself, and she took a huge liking to the brand. Her affinity to truffle is widely known, and one of the flavored salts in our offerings was a white truffled salt,” Dimond said.
If Dimond ever had the chance to meet Winfrey, he would say, “Thank you, you’ve got great taste.”
“We’re honored and humbled. The companies that have been selected are fantastic brands that have done great things before Oprah and after. We feel like we’re in a bigger, rarefied air,” Dimond said.
Alyssa Lukpat can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AlyssaLukpat.