Peanut butter nugget pioneer Gutterman say ‘don’t retire — rewire’

KINGSTON — Bruce Gutterman says his inner energy sometimes kicks in, but always in control.

Gutterman, of Kingston, says he developed the first peanut butter filled-pretzel nugget — Nutter Nuggets — way back in the early 1980s. He is also recognized as a pioneer in the pourable peanut butter industry, having helped put the peanut butter in Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, among other nationally marketed products.

Gutterman sold his company, Flavors-R-Specialty, in February 2020, but he now operates another venture, Snacks-R-Specialty out of his modest office on West Market Street in Kingston.

“I guess with Flavors-R being acquired and in ‘good hands,’ my focus has returned to the snack foods industry — primarily the pretzel industry,” Gutterman said. “As a ‘disrupter/outsider’ to the pretzel world and full-well knowing the incredible impact how the infusion of peanut butter in pretzels gave new blood to this industry many years ago, it was time to ‘dust off’ my Peanut Butter Log creation from over 30 years ago in hoping the pretzel industry recognizes that this new ideation will be the new shape of things to come.”

As Gutterman deftly says with a grin, “Don’t retire — rewire.”

In an Einstein-like manner, Gutterman explains that he came up with Nutter Nuggets in the 80s, then added the mini-bites to his arsenal of tasty peanut butter-field snacks, and now, some 30 years after he created the “SUV” — the 3-inch pretzel filled with peanut butter.

Gutterman says his perseverance and determination have been the keys to his success.

‘WOW worthy’ story

Gutterman was recently notified that he is one of eight North American runners-up in the Alignable WOW-Worthy SmallBiz Story Search. He was recognized as one of the Top 10 Storytellers out of 1.000- plus entries.

Headquartered in Boston, Alignable is an online network where small business owners across North America drive leads and prospects, generate referrals, land new business, build trusted relationships and share great advice.

Chuck Casto, head of Corporate Communications & News at Alignable.com, notified Gutterman of the recognition.

Here’s what Alignable had to say about Gutterman’s story:

“Bruce Gutterman of snackrspecialty in Kingston, Pa. By helping someone find his missing keys in the middle of the night in 1983, Bruce set the wheels in motion for a hugely successful partnership that led to the first peanut butter pretzels, and an ice cream flavor you may have heard of called, ‘Chubby Hubby!’”

Here’s how Gutterman told his story to Alignable:

“I found a set of car keys sticking out of a trunk in my neighborhood. (It was 2 a.m. Saturday night, 1983).

“I tracked down the owner by knocking on a few doors the next morning.

“He and his wife were visiting their daughter and family in Kingston, Pa. They had been searching for the keys on Saturday and could not find them. (They never thought they were in the trunk.)

“They were relieved when I showed them their keys and they were able to return home. Several weeks later, the man called my office, Flavors-r-Specialty, to personally thank me again. He also told me he and his four brothers owned a large family pretzel brand in Pennsauken, NJ.

“He inquired about my business, Flavors-r-Specialty. I created and pioneered the use of liquid peanut butter for application within the ice cream industry. (The industry was not too peanut butter friendly and most of the major players told me to stay in Pennsylvania, as there was no market for this flavor elsewhere.)

“They were wrong!

“Anyway, the pretzel man created a machine that could inject something inside of a pretzel nugget.

“He asked me if my peanut butter could be injected into this equipment. I traveled to his company and met all of his family members. I also wanted to get a better understanding of how pretzels are made.

“Guess what?

“After a year of trial and error, together we launched the first peanut butter-filled pretzel.

“I took my new brand, Nutter Nuggets, to the West Coast.

“Meanwhile, they launched their filled pretzel on the East Coast.

“After that, I became the ‘Go-To Peanut Butter Pretzel Man.’

“Anderson Bakery in Lancaster, Pa., reached out to me to help create their P.B.-filled pretzel. (Anderson is now a division of TreeHouseFoods, previously Con Agra, and prior to that was owned by National Pretzel Company).

“Then California Pretzel Co. in Visalia, CA, struggled to get their P.B.-filled pretzel product to work. They brought me out to Visalia along with four, 500-pound drums of my Flavors-R Spec. P.B. pretzel formula. It worked right from the start, and officially it was the first time a P.B.-filled pretzel was produced in California.

“Ben & Jerry’s loved the P.B. Pretzels I would send, and they had me work with their flavor gurus. In 1996, the flavor that resulted was named ‘Chubby Hubby’ and it has become a classic.

“Snyder’s of Hanover (Chairman Michael Warehime, now deceased) reached out to me to help create their version of a P.B. pretzel, (a Peanut Butter Pretzel Sandwich).

“Today the P.B. Pretzel Market has exploded and they’re found in every major supermarket, drug store chain, C-Store and even overseas!

“I guess you can say The key to the success of this great snack was actually that. A peanut butter man found the lost keys of a pretzel man in a trunk on a November night, leading to a very popular new product.”

Gutterman’s story is amazing. He is quick to let you know that peanut butter filled pretzels even got a mention on the TV show NCIS.

In Season 8, Episode 8 — “enemies Foreign” — Mossad Director Eli David is impressed with peanut butter-filled pretzels, saying “this is incredible — this is American ingenuity.”

That’s what Gutterman is all about.