Game day watch parties, pool get-togethers with the kids, afternoons at the beach, picnics at the park, family movie nights: what makes any of these gatherings better? A really good snack. Ryan DeCheney, owner of Back 40 BBQ, says his mission is to “serve the community and bring people together.” It seems his small batch smoked pretzels are doing just that.
Back 40 BBQ launched in early 2026 by selling its specialty craft pretzels at local markets. Now, the family business has grown to offer online sales (Michigan shipping only), select catering opportunities, and, most recently, stocking inventory at treasured local shops. On Friday, July 17th, Ryan’s pretzels will officially be available at The Stave and Barrel in Holland.
Ryan says he doesn’t have any interest in seeing his product picked up by a major retail store. “I don’t want to be in big box stores. I would rather have my pretzels at smaller mom and pop stores,” he explained. Ryan wants to help drive customers to small businesses and local shops.
“It’s better overall for the community. I think a lot of people are getting tired of the big corporations and are going back to smaller stores and supporting smaller businesses.”
The first small business to feature Back 40 BBQ’s smoked pretzels is Stave and Barrel. Later this month, on July 29th, JW’s Food and Spirits in Grand Haven will also start carrying Ryan’s pretzels.
The dream, according to Ryan, is to create specialty pretzels that cater to each store. A partnership with Upsidedown Coffee is in the works, and Ryan hopes to create an exclusive cinnamon espresso or other niche, coffee-flavored pretzels for the Washington Square coffee shop. A pretzel with a pizza flavor twist for a pizza shop, a pretzel that would pair well with a patio cocktail or a guys’ night round of beers at a local brewery or distillery—this is where Ryan would like to see Back 40 BBQ grow: local, niche, unique.
It all started with garlic parmesan. Since then, Back 40 BBQ has added maple bourbon and white cheddar jalapeño to the flavor roster. However, a fourth flavor is currently in the test phase: honey mustard. “It’s our number one requested flavor,” Ryan shared. “The goal, the flavor profile that I want is a nice, sweet bite, and then you get the good mustard, tangy depth to it.” Still a work in progress, honey mustard will not be available quite yet, but those eager to try it shouldn’t have to wait much longer.
All of the pretzels at Back 40 BBQ are smoked on real-wood pellet smokers using pecan wood. There are no added smoke seasonings or flavors. All of the cheese is hand shredded. Ryan roasts the jalapeños himself and uses Amish butter and local bourbon from Legacy Winery and Spirits in Hudsonville. “Every ingredient we use is very intentional,” Ryan commented, “besides the Snyder pretzel itself, all of our ingredients, are clean and high quality.”
Self-proclaimed, lifelong foodie, Ryan DeCheney has always been creative in the kitchen. He says this stems from his upbringing. “I grew up very poor, and when you’re poor, you gotta be really creative with food. You can only have chicken ramen noodles so many times until you get sick of the flavor… I got creative with food really early on, and it stuck with me, and it drove this passion of mine.” Now, Ryan’s creativity in the kitchen extends well beyond smoking pretzels.
Back 40 BBQ is steadily expanding the menu to include hearty, bursting-with-flavor, untraditional dishes such as mac-and-cheese crusted with smoked pretzels. Or, breakfast burritos featuring pulled pork, tater tots, smoked cheese, and eggs. Ryan also enjoys experimenting with various dips to complement his pretzels.
“One of my favorite things in the world is when somebody tries my food, and they have that facial expression of, Oh my goodness… If that was the only thing I could ever do: just feed people to get their feedback, I’d be happy,” Ryan admitted. Creating in the kitchen is more than just work for Ryan; it’s an art and a passion. “There’s enough snacks out there that are low quality with a mediocre taste. I would rather have something higher quality with a really bold, strong taste, and that’s the category our pretzels fit in,” he said.
In the near future, Ryan would love to acquire a food truck to help connect his food with more of the community.
While Ryan is the chef and operations behind Back 40 BBQ, his wife Holly is also very involved in the business. She keeps the books and designs their vendor booth. They’ve dubbed their youngest daughter the official pretzel taste tester, and their older daughter helps hold down the fort during vendor shows.
Ryan said it’s fun to see their girls take pride in their pretzels and watch them learn valuable skills they can take into their future careers one day.
The DeCheney family lives in Holland, Michigan: a city they delight in. “The community is so cool. I love Holland. It’s a very tight-knit community, and it’s fun to be involved in.” Ryan also commented that the support that the Holland community gives one another can sometimes be overwhelming in the best way possible.
“The ‘back 40’ is the part of the land where the real work happens. No audience, no applause. Just heads-down effort. That's the culture we want around this food. But the number 40 runs deeper. In Scripture, 40 marks a season of preparation before something greater. Forty days of rain. Forty years in the wilderness. Forty days before ministry began. That's what this business is to us. Colossians 3:23 says to work at everything with your whole heart, as if working for the Lord. We make pretzels. We serve food. But the real mission is building community and serving people well.” —Ryan DeCheney
Grounded in biblical belief, Ryan’s mission for Back 40 BBQ is to create a product that brings people together around good food and good conversation. As a teenager, Ryan remembers having big bonfires at his dad’s house where families, relatives, friends, and the community would show up. “We’d have 100 people on the back 40, having fun, having barbecues, riding dirt bikes, doing country stuff,” Ryan laughed. While he can’t host all of Holland and Ottawa County on the back 40, Ryan hopes his food can translate a similar feeling of nostalgia, a delicious oh my goodness, and an appreciation for the small businesses that flavor the cities we call home.
Jade Havenaar is a Holland native and a life-long lover of the lake, coffee, and a good book. She’s a former middle school teacher and a published author. After marrying the boy she met in a bar and traveling the US together, she and her husband welcomed their first born and Jade happily added “boy mom” to the list of hats she wears. When she’s not writing or changing diapers, she’s probably out adventuring with her Golden Retriever, Henry.
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