Americans are gobbling up popcorn by the bucket load. The sector is reinventing itself from the salty, ‘imitation-butter’ profile of its past to a clean-label version with fresher flavors. Thus, consumer demand and economics are reshaping its future.
If you ask Jeffrey Price, partner at Snacks 101 and Hampton Popcorn, Bethpage, NY, popcorn is a classic and wholesome snack “as American as baseball or apple pie,” he says. Indeed, Americans are gobbling up popcorn by the bucket load. According to The Popcorn Board, a nonprofit organization funded by U.S. popcorn processors, Americans consume 16 billion quarts of the popped snack annually. That’s 51 quarts per man, woman and child; of that, about 70% is eaten in the home, while the remaining 30% is enjoyed at the many stadiums, theaters and other outlets that recognize popcorn as an affordable and nostalgic “home run” at the concession stand.