What's behind the popcorn renaissance? Is it really any healthier than the humble crisp or is it all just hot air?
Madonna, the Queen of Pop, has been known to diet on it to shed baby weight and foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay served up lemon pepper and smoked paprika flavoured cones of the stuff to diners at his new Petrus restaurant last year. So what's behind the popcorn renaissance? Is it really any healthier than the humble crisp or is it all just hot air?
Flavoured popcorn has long been a hit in the US but when it comes to UK palettes we’re very much a sweet-toothed nation at heart. The ready to eat and microwaveable popcorn market is worth about £35m to date and the UK is split roughly 80/20 in favour of sweet variants with toffee flavoured popcorn taking the lion's share with over £14m. (Kantar Worldpanel).
While we’re no strangers to big brands like Butterkist, the premium, predominantly savoury popcorn market is still very much in its infancy but as the hand-cooked crisps market becomes increasingly crowded a number of companies are bringing new and exciting flavours to the masses.
Indulgence
Posh crisp purveyor Tyrrells is one such company looking to carve out a niche in premium savoury popcorn. At the end of last year it launched sharing sized packs of its new Proper Popcorn in lightly sea salted, sweet & salty and sour cream & jalapeno chilli, to inject "upmarket and adult appeal" into the market.
It is due to roll out single-serve bags later this year- good news for those who struggle with portion control - and has more savoury flavours up its sleeve for 2011/12. “Most current popcorn brands are mass marketed at a young audience, with a heavy focus on sugar and toffee coatings,” says Tyrrells marketing director Cath White.
“What we’re trying to achieve in popcorn is similar to what we achieved in the crisp market eight years ago; the delivery of an altogether better quality, more premium snacking experience in a category that has lacked innovation due to the dominance of one brand.”
Pret’s four flavours of Skinny Topcorn contain about 40% less fat than a typical 40g bag of gourmet crisps and have already made waves in the snack world as a healthier lunchtime alternative.
But while Tyrrells’ popcorn contains less fat per serving than hand-cooked crisps, White says the real growth opportunity for the market is in the adult snack-sharing trends of indulgence and provenance rather than health. “We don’t make a bold statement on the front of pack about reduced fat or health benefits. Instead we focus on the provenance of being made in England and using no artificial or GM ingredients.”
Hertfordshire’s Willy Wonka family
It's not just established snack brands like Tyrrells attempting to crack the UK premium popcorn market - a family from Letchmore Heath also has its sights on becoming the next pop-cornoisseur.
Inspired by trips to the US, Joseph Sopher and his family launched Joe & Seph’s, a new range of premium popcorn at the BBC MasterChef live show in London last November. The brand has already proved a hit with shoppers, prompting the family to open a trade stand at Brent Cross shopping centre.
Joe & Seph’s popcorn uses the healthier technique of hot air rather than oil and includes quirky flavours such as caramel macchiato & whisky and olive oil & sea salt (rsp: £1.95-£2.95).
“A lot of popcorn companies say they’re gourmet but effectively all they’re doing is popping the corn in oil and combining it with flavourings,” says Joe & Seph’s marketing manager Paul Sopher, citing the success of US gourmet popcorn-maker Garrett as an example of what the UK market could achieve.
“Your standard crisp is often fried in oil which makes it incredibly unhealthy and fattening. You can either fry corn, which is what you get in the cinema and is pretty unhealthy or you can blow it with hot air like we do. There’s no oil added in the process and we use all natural ingredients and no additives in our toppings,” he explains.
“We’re offering something very different to the other guys out there. One of our products changes from smooth caramel to pepper to chilli as you eat it, a bit like something from Willy Wonka.”
It may not taste like a three-course dinner but if orders continue to roll in Joe & Seph’s could be popping up in a fine food hall near you soon.