We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kari Stolpestad a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kari thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

We use real butter in all of our popcorn. We simmer it, brown it, and simmer it again, with fresh ingredients such as dill or jalapeno. This process gives our popcorn a rich, bold flavor that is unlike any other popcorn you can buy. We keep our ingredient lists short, avoiding preservatives. We also have a limited variety of flavors that we offer. Instead of purchasing prepackaged flavor mixes, we create all of our flavors from scratch. Using real butter on our popcorn limits how long our popcorn stays fresh, we recommend eating it right away or within 2 weeks (if you can wait that long!) but it gives our popcorn great flavor. And really, once you try it, you’re going to eat the whole bag.

Kari, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always had a passion for food, cooking, and baking. When I was a kid, my Mom used to bring home Martha Stewart books and videos from the library. I loved reading/ watching them, learning techniques, and trying recipes. I worked in the food industry for years, in a bakery, then in marketing and test kitchens for a large food company, and later in a culinary program for a grocery chain. What inspired me to start Good Batch Popcorn was Truffle Popcorn. The first time I tried it, I thought it was the most amazing thing I had ever tried. No wonder chefs were always raving about truffles. I learned how to make it – after hounding the restaurant where I had tried it for the first time- and made it for my family and friends for years. I had never found anything on the market that I liked as much as my Truffle Popcorn. I figured since everyone liked it so much, maybe I could make it and sell it. I now make 4 varieties of popcorn, Truffle, Jalapeno Cheddar, Dill Pickle and Butter with Pink Himalayan Salt. In addition to these, I also make a few variations of caramel, like Chicago Mix (cheddar and caramel ), Peppermint Bark – using amazing chocolate – caramel apple, and whatever else I think would be delicious.
I think that keeping my ingredient lists short allows me to offer premium gourmet popcorn to people who are careful about eating overly processed food. I love when people try it for the first time and are impressed with how good it is.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I had always made my popcorn on the stove but when I started making it to sell at the market, I purchased a cabinet style popcorn maker, and a large tumbler to butter and season it. Getting the equipment was such a game changer. It allowed me to make it in much larger batches, and perfect my recipes to ensure they were consistent. I’ve since upgraded to a larger popper, which makes the process more efficient. It took some time to perfect the process. Making sure my popcorn would always be a “Good Batch” meant many trials and errors. Too salty, too bland, not enough butter, not timing it right and burning the popcorn were all mistakes I made at the beginning.
Getting the right packaging was a challenge too. I tried quite a few different bags before I found what I liked.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I have really focused on selling my popcorn at farmer’s markets. They have such a fun energetic vibe. Some people come and shop every week, others pop in once in a while. Being able to provide samples is a great way for people to see how good my popcorn is, and to see which flavors they like. Truffle Popcorn- my favorite- is not for everyone. I tell people it can be like cilantro, some people love it, others just don’t like it at all. The best is when someone tries it for the first time and absolutely loves it. Farmer’s markets are where I found the inspiration for two of my flavors. First, the Dill Pickle, when a vendor near me was selling large bunches of fresh dill, and the breeze carried the fragrance across to me. I knew I had to find a way to incorporate that fresh dill into my popcorn. The other was the vendors selling baskets of jalapeno peppers. I wanted a popcorn that captured the flavor and heat of those peppers, instead of a generic “hot” flavor. I have found that many of the people who come to shop at the farmer’s markets like to support local and small businesses. We have so many incredible small business owners in the Kalamazoo area, and having a market where they can connect with customers is fantastic

Contact Info:

• Website: www.goodbatchpopcorn.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/goodbatchpopcorn
• Facebook: facebook.com/goodbatchpopcorn

Image Credits
Kasey Hunt Photography