“Mr. Popcorn” Sells More Than 200 Popcorn Flavors

“Mr Popcorn” Sells More Than 200 Popcorn Flavors CROPS Miscellaneous “I look at everyday food and ask ‘Why can’t I put that flavor into popcorn?’” explains Scott Trimble when asked how he managed to come up with more than 200 flavors of popcorn Some of the unique flavors he offers include frosted lemon cookie minty shamrock taco supreme and Pub Grub He and his crew do everything from planting the seed to popping and selling the finished flavored popcorn Trimble got started as a boy growing his own popcorn and making caramel corn in a brown paper bag At first he gave it away then slowly built a business when people started asking where they could buy it He saved money to buy a cabinet popcorn popper and rented space in a certified kitchen before investing in a building in Heyworth Ill in 2016 “Now we have the biggest popcorn popper in the region It pops 2 1/2 lbs of kernels for each batch so we can make 175 lbs of popped corn an hour ” Trimble says He cooks up his flavorings on a commercial stove “Temperature is critical The whole art of making caramel is just the controlled burning of sugar ” he says “Change the temperature 5 degrees and it crunches and tastes different ” Once it’s at the right temperature the syrup is poured over the popcorn in a 40-gal barrel that turns slowly as he mixes it by hand before laying it out to cool to room temperature before bagging He grows hull-less varieties and buys butter from a family farm and sugar from a farmer-owned sugar plant He plants six varieties each year including blue and black popcorn Trimble offers six staple flavors - Buttery Caramel Corn Cheddar Cheese Big City Mix Caramel Cheddar & White Cheddar mix Pub Grub Spicy Caramel Salted Bavarian Pretzel Beer Cheese & Bacon Cheddar Frosted Kettle Corn and Movie Theater Butter Corn He sells small $4/quart and large $10/gallon bags at his store and through many other stores including most Hy-Vee stores in Illinois He also sells through Facebook and Twitter and plans to have a website soon “Schools use it for fundraisers ” he says “The nice thing about it is they actually make money The organization is helped and I get new customers ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Trimbles Produce Farm 101 W Main Heyworth Ill 61745 ph 217 202-2994; Facebook: Trimbles Produce Farm; trimblesplantsandproduce@yahoo com

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