When sisters and best friends Missy Mandel and Jill Bergman decided to leave their professions as elementary school teachers to go into business together in 2004, they knew their company would be anything but ordinary. And with a name like Twisted Sisters Gourmet Pretzel Treats, how could it be?

The Toronto, Ontario-based company specializes in gourmet pretzels and other handmade treats that are so decadent and unique, they’ve attracted the attention of major grocers and retailers across Canada. The curious mixture of salty vs. sweet has propelled Twisted Sisters into a national phenomenon, but it’s not just the product that makes the company a success, it’s the sisters’ commitment to having fun in the process.

In an interview with Food and Drink, Mandel, Bergman and their entrepreneurial mother, Tyrral Prashker, discussed the concept behind Twisted Sisters, how the company came to be and why it is quickly growing into a Canadian household name.

Food and Drink: Why did you decide to start Twisted Sisters?
Missy Mandel: Jill and I are sisters, five years apart. We’re two of four girls in the family and we’ve always had a unique connection. We were always joined at the hip like E.T. and Elliot. We were elementary school teachers.

We went to the zoo one afternoon with our children – I have two and she has two – and left a bag of snacks in the car. It was a hot day, and we had a sundae at the zoo. When we got the kids back in the car, we took the bag of snacks and sent it to the back. It was two caramel chocolate bars and some pretzels. When we looked back, we saw the kids making a goulash with the chocolate bar that was now melted. They were mixing pretzels in with the caramel and chocolate. In tasting this mixture that they made, it was fantastic.

Jill Bergman: I said to Missy, “Wow, we should try and create something.” We found anything we could start with: caramel, chocolate, nuts, and we made up all these concoctions. We even used gummy bears, marshmallows – anything we could find in my cupboard. From there, we narrowed it down and came across the pretzels that we thought were the best and decided what better place to try these out but a bunch of people at a Halloween party? We put them on a plate with all the other goodies and, basically, most things were left on the plate, but every single pretzel was gone. And we made two dozen.

MM: That, I think, was the beginning because we started getting requests from friends and family. We set up a shop at Jill’s house and made pretzels for our friends and family. Soon, the community at large started hearing about us and charity groups started calling us. We never turn down an offer to participate in a charity event. At one event, somebody approached us who was the president of large marketing firm and asked us if we would do 1,000 boxes in their colors with their logos. Jill and I laughed and said, “Yes, but how are possibly going to do 1,000 boxes?” From that point on we realized this was going to become quite a business.

JB: We were still teaching at this point, but at the end of June 2004, we decided to take a year off and try to make this a business. Of course, we didn’t have the funds to build the business and knew we had to generate some type of income. Since we both love dogs, the vet said, “Why don’t you take a couple of dog clients on and take other dogs to the park?” and that’s what we did. We used the money from our dog walking business and put it into Twisted Sisters.

MM: Even as a fun diversion to walk these dogs, it created quite a business. We walked about 18 to 20 dogs, which we did before we went to work for the pretzels. We didn’t have anybody helping with marketing; the two of us did everything initially. We relied on our creativity as teachers. Jill looked after production and creating flavors, and I looked after the marketing and trying to spread the word. That’s when we took our mother out of retirement – she also was an entrepreneur and always ran her own business.