CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 1, 2025--
Potbelly Sandwich Works (NASDAQ: PBPB), the iconic neighborhood sandwich shop, is heatingup taste buds this summer with its new signature Hot Pepper Flavored Potato Chips in partnership with Zapp’s ® (NYSE: UTZ), the daringly different brand of chips and pretzels with bold flavors rooted in the sights and sounds of The Big Easy. The new chips bring the flavor of Potbelly’s craveable signature Hot Peppers in a spicy, snackable, portable form, now available exclusively at Potbelly shops nationwide.
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Known for their kettle-style process, fried one batch at a time, Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips have been the perfect pairing to Potbelly’s oven-toasted sandwiches for more than 15 years. The two brands teamed up for the Hot Pepper Flavored Chips, marrying the taste of a Potbelly fan-favorite with Zapp’s distinctive, crunchy, and bold flavors to offer fans a spicy twist on a classic chip experience. The Hot Pepper Chips join a lineup of longtime Zapp’s favorites, including Voodoo ®, Spicy Cajun Crawtators ®, Evil Eye ®, Salt & Vinegar, and other unique flavors.
“ Our Hot Peppers have a cult following, with fans adding them to their entrees and sides, enjoying the heat in our signature sauces and hummus, or buying them by the jar to enjoy and share,” said Potbelly Director of Consumer Insights and Menu Innovation Eric Chenel. “ Now, we’re thrilled to deliver that bold flavor in a whole new format. These chips are spicy, flavorful, and unmistakably Potbelly. Whether paired with a toasty sandwich or enjoyed on their own, they bring the perfect Potbelly kick that fans have come to expect from our Hot Peppers. ”
For information on exclusive offers and rewards, Potbelly encourages fans to join the Potbelly Perks program, where they can unlock special offers on the entire menu. To sign up for the Potbelly Perks reward program, visit www.potbelly.com/perks, and for more information on Potbelly, visit www.potbelly.com.
To learn more about Zapp’s, visit Zapp’s website or connect with Zapp’s on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. And, as always, “Laissez les bons temps rouler!”
#ZAPPS #ZAPPSHOTPEPPER #ZAPPSPOTBELLY
About Potbelly
Potbelly Sandwich Works is a neighborhood sandwich concept that has been feeding customers' smiles with warm, toasty sandwiches, signature salads, hand-dipped shakes and other fresh menu items, customized just the way customers want them for more than 40 years. Potbelly promises Fresh, Fast & Friendly service in an environment that reflects the local neighborhood. Since opening its first shop in Chicago in 1977, Potbelly has expanded to neighborhoods across the country – with more than 425 shops in the United States including more than 80 franchised shops in the United States. For more information, please visit www.potbelly.com.
About Utz Brands, Inc.
Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE: UTZ) manufactures a diverse portfolio of savory snacks through popular brands, including Utz ®, On The Border ® Chips & Dips, Zapp’s ®, and Boulder Canyon ®, among others. After a century with a strong family heritage, Utz continues to have a passion for exciting and delighting consumers with delicious snack foods made from top-quality ingredients. Utz’s products are distributed nationally through grocery, mass merchandisers, club, convenience, drug, and other channels. Based in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Utz has multiple manufacturing facilities across the U.S. to serve its growing customer base. For more information, please visit www.utzsnacks.com or call 1‐800‐FOR‐SNAX.
Potbelly and Zapp’s Launch Hot Pepper Chips (Source: Utz Brands, Inc.)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court is being asked to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that have drawn attention to the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.
In arguments Thursday, attorneys for Tupe Smith plan to ask the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Her supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state contends Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.
Prosecutors also have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in the small Alaska community of Whittier, including Smith’s husband and her mother-in-law. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.
American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.
About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the courthouse before Thursday's hearing to support Smith. One woman, Fran Seager of Palmer, held a sign that said, “Support our Samoans. They are US nationals.”
Smith's husband, Michael Pese, thanked the American Samoa community in the Anchorage area. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t be strong enough to face this head on,” he said.
State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.
“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said. “I do not think it is a good use of our limited state resources to go after these hardworking, taxpaying Alaskans who are not criminals.”
Smith was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. She said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.
In a court filing in 2024, one of her previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote.”
Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.
Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”
The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”
The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said in court filings last year.
One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, said by email last week that if the appeals court lets stand the indictment, Alaska will be “the only state to our knowledge with such a low bar for felony voter fraud.”
Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
