It was early 2025 when Louise knew that Popcorn Kitchen needed to spread it wings and have an ownable stake within the rapidly expanding savoury snacking debate.
For all its undoubted success Louise was only too aware that there were major food & drinks channels for whom Popcorn Kitchen’s sweet-themed popcorn simply wasn’t the answer (e.g. the on trade, airports).
Too many conversations had begun and ended abruptly with, “We love what you’re doing, your unstinting commitment to the indie sectors, your self-effacing messaging and your clear stewardship of gourmet corn, but sweet-themed popcorn doesn’t feel right for us.”
That said, it wasn’t all negative feedback! There were regular prompts that growing numbers of snacking venues were on the lookout for products that weren’t simply spud or nuts themed, with the former increasingly deemed run-of-the-mill and the latter prohibitively expensive. Most of all there were suggestions that growing numbers of retailers wanted to rationalise their supplier base by supporting those producers with all-encompassing offers.
The conundrum for Louise and her team was providing greater snacking breadth whilst not straying too far from their ‘snacking strengths.’
An impromptu visit to Seville’s bustling tapas scene provided the all-important lightbulb moment for Louise with the welcome discovery of full-bodied giant chocolo corn that put old-news sweet corn in the shade on account of its impressive girth (4x the size of traditional sweet corn), providing a superior platform for big flavours to thrive and a seismic ‘off the charts’ crunch.
Yes, 7 months down the line Popcorn Kitchen has enjoyed all the positive buzz of a savoury snacking launch that has provided NEW distribution conversations and wins but the real benefit has been existing consumers identifying the business as a one-stop emporium for ‘corn obsessive’ perfection.
Essentially, in one fell swoop the business has underlined not simply its commitment to innovation but its ongoing determination to meet and exceed the evolving snacking needs of its retail heartland!
