On November 14, 2025, Hofer's of Helen proprietor Gunter Maier, 71,
executed a merchandise-transport contract with Blue Origin LLC —
specifically, with the rocket company's specimen-transport subsidiary,
Blue Origin Cargo Programs, LLC — at a published rate of $2,400 for
"one (1) payload unit, maximum mass 0.75 lb, maximum volume 120 cubic
inches, vacuum-sterile containment provided by shipper, no hazardous
materials, no biological materials capable of reproduction." Mr.
Maier's payload was a standard 12-ounce Hofer's of Helen salt-topped
soft pretzel.
The pretzel was produced in Hofer's kitchen on the morning of November
12. It was cooled to room temperature over a 40-minute period on a
wire rack. It was placed in a food-grade Nylon-6 vacuum-sterile
specimen bag (Hofer's standard catering bag, with added silica-gel
desiccant). The bag was sealed at 2:47 p.m. November 12. The sealed
pretzel was shipped via UPS overnight to Blue Origin's West Texas
launch facility on November 13, arriving at 11:14 a.m. November 14.
It was affixed, per the terms of the transport contract, to the
interior east wall of the New Shepard crew capsule, by two 1-inch
squares of industrial-grade Velcro, approximately six inches to the
right of the starboard window and four inches below the capsule's
interior emergency-procedures placard. The affixation was witnessed by
two Blue Origin technicians.
The New Shepard NS-35 flight launched on December 3, 2025, at 10:14
a.m. Central Standard Time. It carried seven human passengers,
including the performer Katy Perry, the journalist Lauren Sánchez
Bezos (flying under her maiden name, Sánchez, per the Blue Origin
manifest), the broadcaster Gayle King, and four other paying
passengers. The flight exceeded the 100-kilometer Karman Line at
10:17 a.m., attained an apogee of 107.4 kilometers at 10:18 a.m., and
returned to the West Texas launch-recovery site at 10:24 a.m. Total
flight duration, per Blue Origin's post-flight announcement: 10
minutes and 14 seconds.
The pretzel was, for approximately 4 minutes and 6 seconds of that
duration, in the sub-orbital regime above the Karman Line.
Recovery
The capsule was recovered at the West Texas site and the pretzel
retrieved from its Velcro mount at 11:42 a.m. by a Blue Origin
specimen-recovery technician, who immediately sealed the specimen bag
in an outer mylar courier pouch. The pouch was shipped via UPS
overnight to Helen, arriving at Hofer's of Helen at 10:14 a.m.
December 4, 2025. Mr. Maier opened the outer mylar at 10:16 a.m. He
examined the specimen bag. He observed that the bag was intact, the
vacuum seal uncompromised, and the pretzel visible through the bag's
clear window.
He did not, at that time, open the inner bag.
He has not, as of this filing, opened the inner bag.
"I was not going to eat it," Mr. Maier said, when I interviewed him
Wednesday afternoon at the bar of Hofer's. "That was never the
question. The question was whether the pretzel could be mechanically
subjected to a sub-orbital flight regime — the accelerations of launch
and reentry, the brief microgravity, the vibration profile of the
capsule — and return to Earth with its structure intact. The question
had been answered. The question had been answered in the
affirmative."
Display
The pretzel is currently displayed, in its original inner specimen
bag, in a clear acrylic display case on the east end of Hofer's
main bar, between the tap manifold and the rosettes of dried hops.
The case is 12 inches by 8 inches by 6 inches. It is lit, from above,
by a single 3W warm-LED puck light. It sits on a pedestal of polished
cherry cut, per Mr. Maier, from "a tree from Uncle Erich's property in
Sautee."
A typed, laminated card mounted to the front of the case reads, in
12-point Garamond Bold:
HOFER'S SUBORBITAL PRETZEL
Manufactured: 11/12/2025. Flown: 12/03/2025. Apogee: 107.4 km.
Duration above Karman Line: approximately 4 min 6 sec.
Structural integrity on return: complete.
Not for sale. Not for consumption. Display only.
The three grains of pretzel salt which, per Mr. Maier's inventory,
came loose during transit are individually catalogued, each in a
small labelled envelope, taped in a vertical column to the base of
the display case. The envelopes are labelled, from top: "GRAIN 1,"
"GRAIN 2," "GRAIN 3."
Receipt
The $2,400 receipt from Blue Origin is framed, in walnut, and hung
behind the bar at a height of approximately five and a half feet. Mr.
Maier paid the full amount from his own pocket. Hofer's of Helen
accounted for the transaction as "R&D (Marketing)." It has not, to
Mr. Maier's knowledge, generated any additional pretzel sales that
would not have occurred absent the flight.
Asked whether he would do it again, Mr. Maier said: "No. Once is a
gesture. Twice is a hobby."
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